In the first quarter of 2014 the Poles purchased 1.69 million of insurance policies on the Internet or by phone, i.e. almost 3.5 percent less than in the equivalent period of the previous year. The gross premium collected in the same period of time amounted to PLN 258 million (- 8.4 percent).
Based on the data after Q1 2014, the Poles still prefer buying the third party liability insurance policies through the direct channel for motor vehicles ( PLN 143.6 million in premiums) and car accident and theft insurance (PLN 51.6 million). At the same time, the policies from the group of other material damage become increasingly important (increase in premium by 31.4 percent y/y up to almost PLN 8 million). Accident insurance premium remains on a similar level (decrease by 3.3 percent down to PLN 28.8 million).
“Q1 2014 brought a slight decrease of the premium compared to the equivalent period of the previous year. This result shows diversified methods of customer acquisition, mainly through using also the traditional channels by the majority of direct insurers. Moreover, pricing competition to win a customer still remains visible in this market. The number of policies sold in Q1 2014 is lower than in the previous year by only 3.4 percent,” said Paweł Zylm, Head of the PIU Direct Insurance Team.
Direct market is the channel of policies sales by phone and on the Internet which appeared in Poland in 2003. The sector has observed a particularly dynamic growth since 2006, and in 2012 it exceeded 5 million of sold policies for the first time.
