The insurance industry has reported a big jump in medical insurance policies sold in the last calendar year that ended in March.
Bimeh-Dari Novin, a local magazine specialized in insurance news, reviewed the growth in insurance policies in each category and their overall premium income.
It said medical insurance was in the lead in total policies sold with 178.8% year-on-year rise. The average growth of this segment was 36.53% over five years to March 2021.
The progress is likely due to the insurers’ measures after the Covid pandemic struck in February 2020. Soon after the virus spread insurers were told to broaden the scope of medical insurance to cover several costs, including medicine approved to fight the deadly virus by the Health Ministry.
Despite the devastating impact of Covid on their business, insurers see it as a rare development that allows them to burnish their tarnished credentials with customers who for years have complained about the strange practices, mainly of expensive private hospitals, in demanding full payment of bills and refusing to deal with the bureaucracy of insurance companies and other hassles.
Life insurance ranked second on the list with 8.37%. The five-year average annual growth rate of this sector was 20.4%, implying a slowdown in the recent past.
Fire insurance climbed 7.99% in annual sales to rank third. A review of the numbers shows that medical and fire insurance were the only categories outselling their five-year average.
Insurers' data also indicates 3.99% decline in aviation insurance policies last year, far lower than its five-year average of 27.5%.
Cargo and engineering insurance were also among leading categories in the earlier years but failed to maintain the momentum.
Stable Growth in Premium
Figures related to growth in premium income show that the companies had higher income last year.
Cargo insurance topped the list with 72% increase. The five-year average for this category was 47%.
Accident insurance had a five-year average growth of 29% by March 2021. However, it posted 59% growth in premium in the last Iranian year to come in second on the list.
The compulsory third-party vehicle insurance, life insurance and fire insurance were the other categories that did better than average last year.
Insurance companies generated 115 trillion rials ($4.11 billion) in premium income in the last fiscal year, posting 41% growth on the year before.
Data released by the Central Insurance company of Iran, the industry regulator, show third-party vehicle insurance, which is mandatory in Iran, again topped the list alone generating one-third of the premium.
Insurers sold 24.5 million third-party auto insurance policies last year worth 40.1 trillion rials ($1.43 billion) – up 46.3% in premium income.
