Significant increase was registered in damage insurance for goods and properties, cars, electronic equipment, and accidental damages for installations.
At the end of Q1, BCR Asigurari climbed four places to become the second largest insurer, with gross premiums sold worth €65 million. By the end of 2006, the company ranked sixth, following Allianz Tiriac, Asirom, Omniasig, Asiban and ING Asigurari de Viata.
"The first quarter is very good every year for insurance companies, because of RCA [mandatory car insurance]. Backed by a strong shareholder, such as BCR, and supported accordingly, we hope to maintain this position until the end of the year," the company's CEO, Mihai Tecau said, on announcing the first quarter's results.
He explained that BCR Asigurari had a strong advertising campaign for mandatory car insurance at the end of 2006, and that in early 2007, "people found their way to us".
BCR Asigurari is operating in the general insurance field, with 148 branches around the country. The company's share capital amounts to some €30 million. The company is market leader in terms of loan and guarantee insurance, with a 41.65 percent share and sales in gross premiums amounting to €27.07 million. Tecau said this type of insurance will drop as far as individual clients are concerned, following the Central Bank's (BNR) announcement that it will leave it up to commercial banks to decide whether to request their clients to pay insurance on a loan.
Spending
Although up in the past few years, the local insurance market is far less developed than that in the EU. Romanians spend an average €75 per year on insurance, while Western Europeans spend thousands of euros annually.
