Iran's insurance market logged noteworthy growth in the first 11 months of calendar year (ended Feb 19), with the total insurance premiums reaching 1,546 trillion ($3.09 billion).
The y/y growth was 54.5%, according to the data published by the Central Insurance company of Iran (CII), the supervisory body of the industry.
However, the performance of insurers was mixed. While some saw significant growth others declined. The overall growth rate in premium income was impressive, giving the impression that the key sector is poised for further growth.
Decline in some sectors highlights the challenges that the industry faces, including the impact of sanctions and economic instability.
Nonetheless, with the government's commitment to developing the insurance sector and improving its regulatory framework, the industry is expected to move forward and produce better results.
The biggest contributor to insurance premium was third-party auto insurance, accounting for 30.66% of the total premium income. Medical insurance came in second with 27% of the total followed by life insurance at 14.35%.
In terms of premium growth rate, the highest was seen in the medical category, which surged by 132.13% on the same period last year. The accident and transportation categories followed with 84.6% and 68.7% growth, respectively.
Total insurance policies sold in the 11 months was 65.05 million, up 3.82% compared to the previous year. Third-party auto insurance had the largest share of policies sold with 35.4% of the total, followed by the driver liability category at 34.7%.
On the other hand, the highest growth in the number of insurance policies sold was the money insurance category, with 731.23% growth. The engineering and "medical categories followed with 37% and 23%, respectively.
$1.6b in Claims
Total damages paid by the insurers during the period was 845.7 trillion rials ($1.69 billion), with the medical segment accounting for the largest share at 38.41%.
A large part of the claims was to cover bills related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Soon after the disease struck, insurance companies were told to cover all the expenses of policyholders infected with the brutal virus and expand their scope to include PRC tests.
Interestingly, despite the devastating impact of the disease, insurers saw the pandemic as a rare development that allowed them to improve their tarnished credentials with customers who rightly complain about their strange practices, mainly in private hospitals, in demanding full payment of bills and refusing to deal with the bloated bureaucracy of insurance companies and other hassles.
More than 25 million Iranians have medical insurance.
The third-party auto category and life insurance categories followed with 31.83% and 9.5% of the total claims, respectively.
In terms of damages, the "oil and energy" category had the highest growth rate at 237.16% on the previous year.
Payout ratio in the 11 months was 49.11%, down 0.78 percentage points from the same time last year.
The report said Iran Insurance Company, the only state-owned company, accounted for the largest portfolio with nearly 25% share.
