Insurance News

The number of the Russians, who are having a rest abroad, is steadily growing. Thus, going abroad, they should not feed illusions - in case of state of emergency they should rely only on themselves.
According to Russian statistic bureau, in 2007 9,37 million Russian tourists  have traveled abroad - it is almost on 20 % more, than the year before. In 2008 (according to different estimations) growth will make about 15 %.
But the level of security of the Russian tourists does not rise.
In 2007 the Russian tourist industry union (RTIU) has put questions of insurance and the responsibility. There was a memorandum, where the problem of deliberate reduction of the list of risks and limits on an insurance covering in tourist list has been designated. The standard insurance includes emergency out-patient or hospitalization during a trip, delivery in hospital, “medical or death repatriation up to the airport” and the organization of all of it by insurers. RTIU experts are assured, that the list should be expanded a minimum three times. Besides, payments not always suffice for settlement of insurance cases.
Experts explain it by vulnerability of tourists a dumping of insurers at struggle for contracts with tour operators.

The elderly inhabitant of American state Wisconsin Bean Fenning has offered the unusual transaction to the potential buyers of the house: if he dies within 10 years after the conclusion of the contract on sale of the house, the buyer will receive $500 thousand under the contract on Fenning’s life insurance.
Cost of the house (the area is about 520 square meters) makes $498,9 thousand. According to local real estate agents given offer favorably distinguishes Fenning from other real estate sellers, demand on which in staff has sharply fallen because of the hypothec crisis, which has recently burst in the USA.
The buyer will receive nothing in case if Fenning will commit suicide or he will be killed.
The buyer can study Fenning’s medical card. The man proves, that his parents and sister have died, not having lived till 79 years old.

Today Insurers already state satisfaction concerning expected annual results: 20-30% growth of premiums - it is preliminary forecast of classical insurance market development within the last year (on results of the first half-year, the volume of the collected premiums has on 28% exceeded similar parameter in 2006). According to experts’ estimations, current year also promises good growth. According to insurance company Allianz, in following year classical insurance market will put on weight 40-50 %, and in absolute parameters it will reach $1,8-2 billion.
Life insurance companies show even more impressing results. The gain of premiums by results of the first half-year has made 67 %. According to national manager of Grawe Group in Ukraine, unlike venture capital market, where approach of a stage of achievement of critical weight minds of consumers concerning necessity of insurance and its advantage has already settled down, in life insurance this effect is late a little and will come little bit later. Accordingly in 2008 rates of growth of life insurance market will be essentially higher, than classical.
Also the tendency of the last years - reduction circuit insurance will proceed. It is caused by active demand for real insurance services and toughening of insurance branch regulation, directed on reduction of tax optimization. Thus, in total amount of insurance payments the share of financial schemes will decrease up to 40 %.

Purchase of company “Region” is the second step of If’s strategy in Russia. Last spring If has opened branch with branches in St.-Petersburg and Moscow.
The head of operations of group If in Russia and Baltic has explained  If will continue to serve corporate clients from Scandinavia rendering qualitative services, but the today’s agreement also allows us to enter the internal Russian insurance market.
On the preliminary data, in 2007 the collected premiums of “Region” have made nearby 23,7 million euro. The basic part of insurance payments has been collected under contracts of property insurance.
The insurance society “Region” works since 1993. The company has 8 offices of sales in St.-Petersburg and regional network from 16 branches. “Region” is noted by the national premium “Financial Russia-2007″ as the best company in St.-Petersburg.

Despite all forecasts, global changes have not occurred, all players have remained in the market, and monopolization has not occurred. Moreover, it has not occurred and predicted absolute destruction of fine tour agencies has not ceased to work. Certainly, in result of innovations tour agencies began to concern more closely to the client, to legal subtleties at drawing up of the contract, and it is the positive moment. The discontent of tour agencies with the law resulted at all that all of them unfair and it would be necessary to pay the insurance premium more often now. On the contrary, there are many firms, which work with the clientele from year to year due to expensive trips, and it is natural, that they are interested to serve it as much as possible well. It is clear, that such tour agencies had a natural irritation from the law.
In the insurance market of going abroad tourists situation is not so good, and it is connected with an old problem of parity «the price- the sum of insurer’s responsibility». It is clear, that tour operators are the basic channel of sales of tourist insurance. And they, naturally, aspire to reduce the price of insurance product, and try to dictate their terms to the insurance companies.

In view of maintenance of reflexivity guarantee for the preferential long-term credits, involved for hypothec crediting development, Interbank insurance company “IShONCh” has introduced new insurance product “complex hypothec insurance”.
For last years in the market of hypothec insurance faced essential changes. So, banks put into operation with insurance companies in order to estimate risks quickly, qualitatively more actively, having satisfied requirements of bank, and its client; the insurance companies should be able estimate risks of the concrete insurant quickly. Thus the insurance company should remember, that the taken responsibility should be obtained, obligations at approach of insurance case should be carried out.
Recently speed of risks estimation of the bank-borrower and of insurance policy registration became not that that competitive advantage, but simply vital necessity. The hypothec market develops; the level of banks and the insurance companies grows.

Forms of mutually taken obligations reinsurance contracts are subdivided on:
- facultative (unessential);
- obligatory (obligatory);
- facultative-obligatory, or “the open covering ” contracts.
Facultative reinsurance contracts were the earliest form of reinsurance contracts. Such contract represents the individual transaction, concerning one risk. Its distinctive feature is that as reinsurer has the opportunity of individual estimation of risk to the overcautious person: reinsurer - in the decision of a question, how many it is necessary to leave in own risk (own deduction), and to the overcautious person - in the decision of questions of risk acceptance in certain sum. The negative party of facultative reinsurance is that reinsurer should transfer a part of risk up to the conclusion of the contract with the insurant. By virtue of it the overcautious person has a small time interval for the detailed analysis of received risk.
The contract of obligatory reinsurance obliges the reinsurer to transfer the certain shares to all risks accepted on insurance if their general insurance sum exceeds certain in advance own participation (guarantee) of the insurer. On the other hand, this contract imposes the obligation on the overcautious person to accept the shares of the offered risks. Such kind of the contract is most favorable for reinsurer as all in advance certain risks automatically receive insurance maintenance at the overcautious person.
The facultative-obligatory (transitive) form of the contract gives the reinsurer decision-making freedom: concerning what risks and in what size it is necessary to transfer. In turn the overcautious person is obliged to accept shares of risks on in advance stipulated conditions.