Although Omniasig registered a 13.64 percent decline compared to Q1 2008, it outranked its main competitor, Allianz-Tiriac insurer. However, the latter remains leader on the overall insurance market, with €81.9 million in gross premiums. Subscriptions on the life insurance segment, on which Omniasig does not operate, helped Allianz-Tiriac preserve market leadership. Furthermore, Allianz-Tiriac is also market leader on the no-fault auto insurance segment, with a 22.56 percent share, on a market worth €189.5 million.
On the other hand, Omniasig registered growth on the mandatory third-party liability car insurance segment, on which the Euroins company is market leader, with subscriptions exceeding €26 million. In the first quarter of 2009, total subscriptions on the local insurance market dropped 12.33 percent year-on-year in euro, to €570 million.
Calculated in lei, the decline was 1.46 percent, according to Angela Toncescu, President of the Insurance Supervision Commission (CSA). The general insurance segment rose 3 percent, while life insurance dropped 6 percent.
“I am still optimist and believe there are conditions for double-digit insurance industry growth. I continue to estimate 10 percent growth of the total market by the end of the year,” Toncescu said during the International Insurance and Reinsurance Forum (FIAR) yesterday. However, the President of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Romania association, Dragos Cabat, said that the local insurance industry will register a decline in 2009. “The insurance industry should not expect to exit the crisis, because it is a secondary segment, which depends on industry and consumers,” he added.
