Small increase expected in car premiums
After five years of decline, the cost of motor insurance is set to record a moderate increase in 2018, according to market estimates.
Since 2012 car premiums have dropped by 40 percent, and the majority of insurance companies now estimate that there is no more scope for reductions and are reviewing their strategy. They have already introduced small hikes in specific vehicle categories and in particular regions with high damage rates.
According to the latest available data from the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (EAEE), in 2016 the total loss ratio (which takes into account the stock of previous years) in the car insurance sector deteriorated to 66.1 percent from 62.4 percent in 2015.
That development was recorded despite the increase in the number of insured vehicles to 4.4 million in 2016 from 4.2 million in 2015, and the reduction of the average cost of damage from 1,420 euros in 2015 to 1,400 euros in 2016. These figures mean that insurers effectively subsidized the drop in premiums using the stock of previous years and not through an increase in output.
