Insurers paid out more than PLN 41 billion in insurance compensation

Date: 7 April 2022

IN 2021, POLES RECEIVED PLN 41.3 BILLION WORTH OF INSURANCE COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS, ACCORDING TO POLISH CHAMBER OF INSURANCE (PIU). THIS IS MORE THФТ 4 PER CENT MORE THAN A YEAR EARLIER.

Key figures:

  • PLN 41,3 billion for the injured, including:
    • PLN 18,4 billion for life insurance
    • PLN 15.3 billion from motor insurance (third-party liability insurance and motor hull insurance)
    • About PLN 7.6 billion from other insurance
  • Poles spent (gross premiums written) on insurance:
    • PLN 69.2 billion on insurance, which is 9.1% more than the previous year
  • Insurers invested nearly PLN 85.6 billion worth of assets in domestic bonds and other fixed-income securities supporting the economy and public finance.
  • Over PLN 17,5 billion worth of assets were invested in shares of WSE companies and other variable-income securities.
  • Over PLN 1.2 billion of income tax was paid by insurers.

Life insurance

In the life market, both benefit payments and premiums increased in 2021. This had to do with increased interest in protection policies and increased mortality due to pandemics. Overall, life insurance premiums amounted to PLN 22.1 billion. “The last quarter of 2021 saw a deceleration in the growth of life insurance benefits paid out. However, if we consider last year as a whole from this angle, the pandemic was undoubtedly the most important factor for the life market in terms of benefit payments,” says Jan Grzegorz Prądzyński, President of the PIU management board.

Motor insurance

As far as property insurance is concerned, motor insurance accounts for the largest share of compensation payments.

  • Compensation and benefits from compulsory motor third-party liability insurance amounted in 2021 to PLN 9.3 billion and were 3.2% higher than a year before.
  • Compensation from motor hull insurance amounted to PLN 6 billion, 9.2% more than a year before. At the same time, despite the increase in the cost of claims, the average premium in automobile third party liability insurance cover is falling. In 2021, it amounted to PLN 488, 2 per cent less than the year before. At the same time, the average automobile third party liability insurance claim increased by 3.8 per cent, to PLN 8,484.
  • The average auto-insurance premium was in 2021, up 1 per cent on the previous year. At the same time, the cost of the average claim increased by 7 per cent, to PLN 7,257.

Other property insurance

In 2021, there were no weather phenomena in Poland that resulted in significant increases in property insurance claims. Damages related to the elements and other property damage amounted to PLN 3.4 billion, 0.5 per cent less than a year ago. “We must remember that phenomena related to the elements will occur in Poland every year, on a larger or smaller scale. Insurers are financially prepared to help their customers in such cases,” says Andrzej Maciążek, Vice President of the PIU management board.

Profits in 2021

In 2021, insurers paid over PLN 1.2 billion in income tax to the state budget. During this period, they earned net profit of PLN 5.7 billion, i.e. 7.3% less than in the previous year.