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Term life insurance: men have to pay more

Term life insurance: men have to pay more

Many people take out term life insurance so that their loved ones are covered in the event of their death. This applies, for example, to mortgages and building loans, which are agreed in large amounts. With the death of the insured person, the liabilities are settled. However, there are enormous differences in price for these insurance policies: men have to dig deeper into their pockets than women, and smokers pay more than non-smokers.

Men pay around a third more

Life insurance can cost male policyholders dearly. According to comparisons, they pay around a third more than women with the same age and marital status. Insurance companies justify this with a higher risk of death for men, who are known to have a lower life expectancy. The insurance providers act differently here, however, many want to position themselves equally towards men and women and do not adjust the premiums to gender-specific risks. In general, however, more women can be attracted by a low insurance premium, because they often compare in more detail than men.

Smokers also have to pay more

The difference becomes even clearer when the premiums for smokers and non-smokers are compared. It is also true for smokers that they have a significantly higher risk of death than non-smokers. At the same time, they may be unable to work due to lung cancer, for example, and no longer be able to pay the life insurance premiums. Insurers prevent this with higher premiums and thus protect themselves against the risk of payment default. Ultimately, smokers have to pay around 80 percent more premiums than non-smokers. Here there is also the difference between the sexes: men who smoke have to pay up to 80 percent more than non-smokers, while women who smoke pay around 60 percent more than non-smokers.

Big differences in insurance

The providers of term life insurance are very different and the premiums are sometimes up to 100 percent higher than with the cheapest providers, assuming the same conditions. Differences can exist simply because of age and weight, because related questions must be answered before the contract is concluded. It is noticeable that the life insurances, in which the sum insured decreases in the course of the contract period, are cheaper. Such insurance can be taken out, for example, when a building loan is taken out. The term life insurance secures the loan. This is repaid regularly, so the sum insured can also decrease to the same extent. However, an insurance with a constant sum is more than half to almost 90 percent more expensive compared to the insurance industry with a decreasing sum insured.

Conclusion: Only take out term life insurance after a comprehensive comparison

There is hardly any other insurance that needs to be compared as closely as term life insurance in order to ensure the lowest possible premiums. A young, healthy policyholder who does not smoke, is not overweight and takes out insurance with a decreasing sum insured will therefore be offered the best conditions. It is important to check the insurance contract carefully before signing it so that it really offers the desired protection for the bereaved. In addition, nothing should be insured unnecessarily, because each component also costs more money.

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Life insurance: scrutinizing prejudices

Life insurance: scrutinizing prejudices

Many Swiss have reservations about life insurance. The fear is great: too expensive, too inflexible, not very transparent. But not all prejudices are true.

Prejudices scrutinized

The following prejudices are common to life insurance companies, but they are not all true. In general, life insurance is part of private provision and can be found in both the 3a and 3b pillars. Those who use the 3a pillar and have life insurance with a bank invest in pure savings. Both the policyholder and the relatives are protected if one of the insured risks should occur.

Prejudice 1: Protection only exists in the event of death
The protection of life insurance can even go well beyond pure death protection. Protection against disability is just as possible as a premium waiver in the event of illness. A distinction must be made between the various types of life insurance. Pure risk insurance only pays if the insured risk occurs. Mostly death and disability are insured here. Mixed life insurance, on the other hand, combines various risks and ranges from life insurance and disability to saving for old age. Even if the insured risk does not materialize, the policyholder benefits from the premiums.

Prejudice 2: Early termination will be expensive
It is true that early termination of life insurance can be expensive, which is especially true for mixed life insurance. An early termination can sometimes mean severe losses, but this depends on the previous duration of the insurance. Because: In the first few years after the conclusion of the contract, the initial commission is amortized. After that, building up your assets can begin. This means that a termination at the beginning of the insurance leads to the fact that the costs incurred with the conclusion of the contract have not even been paid. The surrender value of such insurance is zero. Only after 10 to 15 years can there be an increase due to the early termination.

Prejudice 3: Only suitable for families
The coverage of life insurance is not only important for families, single people also benefit from it. Life insurance is particularly cheap for young people who do not yet have a family of their own. You can top up or adjust the insurance at a later date without having to re-examine the admission of the spouse or children. Life insurance is also important for the self-employed, because they often do not have the really important 2nd pillar for provision. In order to protect your own disability, it makes sense to take precautionary measures through life insurance.
In general, if you want to compensate for gaps in provision in the first and second pillars, you should think about a mixed life insurance policy. And that regardless of whether you have your own family or not!

Prejudice 4: Intransparent and not very flexible
The insured would like to know how the premiums are used. Allegedly, however, it is not communicated how the bonuses will be dealt with. But this is not the case, because the insurance companies must show the use of the premiums. Costs are clearly shown, and full transparency must be guaranteed on request.
Furthermore, life insurance is often seen as not very flexible, but that is also not the case. In the meantime, they have long since adapted to the needs of customers and are flexible with regard to the amount of the premiums, the times of payment and various components of the insurance.

Bottom line: life insurances are better than their reputation

There are many prejudices against life insurance, but they are not quite as bad as their reputation is. They are much more transparent and flexible, and they also represent an important provision for the self-employed. They can be adapted to the respective risk and not only offer protection in the event of death. Only the prejudice regarding the low surrender value is tenable, at least in the first 10 to 15 years after the conclusion of the contract.

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Is the Generali disappearing from Switzerland?

Is the Generali disappearing from Switzerland?

The insurance company Generali from Italy is allegedly thinking about how useful it is to continue to be involved in the Swiss market. Concrete options are now being examined as to what the task of dedicated consultants is. A sale may also be an option.

Isn't Switzerland lucrative enough?

Allegedly, the reasons for thinking about the insurance company are that Switzerland does not offer a particularly promising market. So consultants are now sounding out whether a sale makes sense? completely or partially ? out. However, the discussions on this are still in a very early phase, so nothing definitive can be said yet.
Generali has around one million customers in Switzerland and has annual premium income of around two billion francs. The profit was also impressive and was around 194 million.
The speculation continues: If the life insurance portfolio were to be sold, it could generate up to two billion euros in the coffers. The reason: The life insurance business is considered to be extremely capital-intensive and other large corporations have already separated from this sector. The buyers are those companies that specialize in exactly this and handle such portfolios.

The same applies to Generali: Corona is the biggest problem

The largest insurer in Italy, Generali, is struggling with the consequences of the corona crisis. In the first quarter of 2020, the drop in profits was particularly pronounced: only 113 million euros were received. In comparison: in the previous year it was around 744 million euros in the same period. The securities in particular were the problem, because they lost massively in value. As a result, operating profit also fell massively, although it is still not possible to estimate how far the crisis will really have an impact and how deeply profit can fall. The group is now trying to counter the crisis with extensive savings. Nevertheless, the group expects massive problems from Corona, although the crisis will continue into 2021 and there will hardly be any increases in profits or at least adjustments to profits. The crisis puts the insurer in a mess as well as others, because the damage is much higher, plus the loss of dividends and a lack of rental income. Victims of the pandemic and representatives, however, must be compensated; they are entitled to the promised aid payments. And what is the management of the insurance group doing? She responds with savings, designs cost-cutting programs and lets agents travel less. In conjunction with so-called natural reductions (for example, no more new hires if employees are lost due to termination or retirement), the necessary funds should be made available.

Conclusion: Generali life insurances in crisis

Like other insurance companies, Generali's life insurance suffers. The insurance group is expected to try to raise the necessary funds through a sale of the insurance division? Life insurance? and is even considering withdrawing from the Swiss market entirely. Commissioned consultants are currently examining whether this plan will actually be implemented or not. A final decision is still pending.

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2020 was an expensive year for the insurance industry

2020 was an expensive year for the insurance industry

2020 was a huge challenge for the entire insurance industry. Pandemic payments, including due to plant closures, cost huge sums. But the non-life insurers made a clear plus.

Increase in premiums for various types of insurance

The Swiss Insurance Association recently published projections according to which income from premiums for non-life insurance had increased by around 1.4 percent in 2020. This puts them at around CHF 28.9 billion, which means that the industry has been able to continue the positive trend of recent years.
The growth in property damage, fire and natural hazard insurance was significantly stronger, with a volume increase of 3.1 percent being recorded. The economy has grown rapidly in recent years, which has resulted in the insured values also rising steadily. This, in turn, was the main reason for the premium increase.
The remaining property insurances were only able to increase by around two percent; these are credit, legal expenses and surety insurances. Personal insurance also increased by two percent, which was mainly due to the rising costs in the health care system and the increased demand for health insurance.
In contrast, professional and general liability insurance showed zero growth in 2020, while insurance for motor vehicles even posted negative growth of 0.5 percent. Low tariffs and lower demand had led to the loss of income.

Life insurance collapsed in 2020

The decline in the premiums for life insurance was extremely strong, here the insurers recorded drops of up to 18 percent and thus to a total of the premiums of 24.7 billion. The reason for this is the withdrawal of Axa, which withdrew from full insurance for occupational benefits at the beginning of 2019. There were no longer any high single premiums for 2020 that originally came from contract income. As a result of the withdrawal of Axa, many companies switched to another provider who could offer full insurance.

Corona year 2020 as a challenge for insurers

Insurers can now hope that the demand for reinsurance will continue to rise, especially as a renewal in January 2021 highlighted opportunities to improve tariffs and insurance conditions. The demand will increase less because of the revisions, but rather because of Corona.
In general, 2020 was a problem for insurers, with all providers of travel insurance and protection against the consequences of a business closure facing high demands. The Swiss Insurance Association now assumes that insurers had to or still have to pay around one billion francs for defaults in 2020. It is currently unclear whether this will continue to be the case in 2021 or whether there will be lower or even higher requirements.

Conclusion: 2020 as a year to tick off

At least the statement in the headline applies to insurance providers, because the expenses for the insured were high as rarely. Although higher premiums were recorded in some lines, the payments were significantly higher than in the previous year. Above all, travel insurance and business failure insurance were hit hard in 2020.

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Life insurers: financially strong partners for old-age provision

Life insurers: financially strong partners for old-age provision

When it comes to old-age provision, the Swiss still rely on life insurance. However, the current low interest rates do not make it easy to choose a provider who ultimately also brings the desired return. It is therefore important to take a closer look at the financial strength of the respective provider.

Financially strong life insurer: what is important?

How can a layperson assess the financial strength of a life insurance policy? It is very important that many aspects have to be included, because only together can they produce a suitable picture. It is also relevant that the providers offer so-called fund policies, because they are seen as the most important building block in the pension business. Of course, the figures that are regularly published by the insurers must also be taken into account, because they give the right picture. In addition, tests that deal with transparency, profit expectations and solvency are meaningful.

Which life insurance offers potential?

The market is not exactly clear and so quite a few Swiss tend to simply take out life insurance with a particularly well-known or large provider. According to recent surveys, they are not that wrong, because Zurich did particularly well in comparison. It is particularly convincing in terms of profit expectations and solvency, where very good partial grades were achieved.
But not only Zurich is convincing, the Basler term life insurance also got good grades. This insurance was awarded 5.5 out of a possible 6.0 stars by the analysis company ascore. Of course, there are a number of other life insurers that are definitely worth taking a closer look at in comparison; the two providers mentioned are only shown here as examples.

Irreplaceable life insurance

According to experts, life insurance will remain essential for old-age provision in the years to come. However, their attractiveness must be judged from various points of view. Anyone who dares just take a look at the interest rates will recognize the differences, taking into account the respective time: an interest rate of four percent was still more common three years ago in the middle range, today it seems very high and almost utopian. In the 1990s, however, such a return was rather low. The current interest rate level must therefore be taken into account when assessing life insurance and the providers of such products.

Every life insurance operates according to the principle of risk equalization, whereby the specific design of the equalization varies depending on the provider. For this, the conditions on the capital markets are primarily important, the risk compensation works differently depending on the age group of the insured and the current economic conditions.
Nevertheless: life insurance policies are not being phased out and are rather considered by experts to be? Lively? designated. Even in times when interest rates are at an absolute low, there is strong demand for life insurance, which may also have something to do with the assessment of their security.

Conclusion: assess life insurances according to many criteria

When assessing the health of a life insurance policy, it should not only depend on how high the current interest rate is. What is more important is which services are offered by the insurance in which case, what risk coverage is available and what the solvency of the insurance is. In the long term, therefore, all developments must be taken into account. Overall, however, life insurance is not being phased out and continues to play an important role in old-age provision.

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Is the loss of earnings insurance necessary?

Is the loss of earnings insurance necessary?

Loss of earnings insurance is often advertised by insurers, but it is usually not entirely clear whether this insurance really makes sense. It is time to take a closer look. What can the loss of earnings insurance do?

That is the loss of earnings insurance

By definition, loss of earnings insurance is insurance that pays out in the event of incapacity for work caused by an accident or illness. It is therefore also known as occupational disability insurance, although this term is self-explanatory. Anyone who can no longer work should receive a pension with which the previous standard of living can be maintained. Loss of earnings insurance can offer several advantages:

    • Regular income is secured
    • Affected person and family are covered
    • The amount of the pension is freely agreed
    • Benefits from the 1st and 2nd pillars are supplemented
    • The duration of the pension is also freely agreed

Especially when the incapacity affects the main breadwinner in the family, the relatives are often at a loss: How should the regular expenses be paid? This is possible with the loss of earnings insurance, because the previous income can be paid out in full. What is important for this is the corresponding agreement on the amount and duration of the pension payment, although this also determines the amount of the premium. The coverage in the insurance can thus be agreed individually, which in turn means that personal coverage gaps are closed. Tip: The loss of earnings insurance should be formulated in such a way that surpluses can be used to reduce the premium.

For whom is the loss of earnings insurance useful?

The self-employed do not receive a pension in the event of occupational disability and therefore cannot expect anything from the pension fund. This means that if you are absent from work, you will have to reckon with a supply shortfall. In addition, the loss or restriction of income due to the loss of the self-employed can endanger the continuation of the company. The self-employed should therefore urgently think about loss of earnings insurance.
On the other hand, those who do not have any paid work may think at first that they do not need loss of earnings insurance either. But far from it, at least if there are additional costs such as the fees for daycare or domestic help. Loss of earnings insurance is also useful and recommended here.
For salaried employees, too, the benefit gap in the event of disability is too large, because the first and second pillars are not sufficient. The loss of earnings insurance is important and should close possible income gaps.

Conclusion: Loss of earnings insurance as recommended additional insurance

Loss of earnings insurance is recommended for all people who cannot afford to forego their income. The pension from the insurance is paid out in the specified amount and for the agreed period; it can only be set for accidents or for illness and accident or only for illness. This pension is available from a disability of at least 25 percent, the amount of the payment depends on the agreed amount and the degree of disability.

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Canceling life insurance: does it make sense or not?

Canceling life insurance: does it make sense or not?

Life insurance is often regarded as a standard insurance that "you just have to have". But it often tears a deep hole in the household budget when the premiums are debited. Therefore, the question arises for many insured persons as to whether life insurance should not be terminated after all?

Protection for death and old age

The mixed life insurance should not only protect the surviving dependents in the event of death, but should also serve as financial provision for one's own old age. In addition, the risk of disability can be insured. Such mixed life insurance policies are often sold within the 3a pillar and have a very long term. Usually the retirement age is given as the end of the contract.
However, it is also possible to take out pure term life insurance, in which there is no savings component and which also counts as a pension under the 3a pillar.

However, one's own life situation can also change and those who have previously been well insured are no longer dependent on the protection of the insurance. Or your own financial situation deteriorates so much that money becomes scarce and could be used otherwise. The contributions for life insurance seem pointless and are simply no longer affordable.
With a pure term life insurance, termination is not a problem, as this can usually be terminated three years after the conclusion of the contract. It is even possible to re-enter insurance at a later date, but then the premiums are higher due to the increased age at which the insurance company can join.

Termination: sensible or not?

The termination of a mixed life insurance policy can be very expensive, because the surrender value of the same is at least zero in the first few years. The reason is that insurers want to recoup all of their costs first. You deduct administration fees and the commission for the insurance contract by your insurance agent from the savings amount, so that the policy can even be negative at first.

Only then will the majority of the premiums paid be used to build up the assets and the interest on the capital will begin. This in turn consists of the guaranteed interest rate and the profit sharing. The participation itself is determined by the success of the insurance company and its amount is often difficult to understand.

In order to decide whether it makes sense to terminate life insurance or not, an alternative form of investment must be carefully analyzed. Does it make up for the cost of high life insurance buyback? If life insurance is in the 3a pillar, the only sensible alternative is to order another 3a solution from a bank. The reason is that the assets cannot be withdrawn from the 3a pillar, but must remain there up to five years before retirement age. The tax authorities do not care, they are not interested in transactions within the 3a pillar. The income there is only taxed when it is paid out and not before.

Smart alternatives to life insurance?

It is not only important that life insurance can be terminated at all, but also what the alternative to termination is. As an alternative, many life insurers offer exemption from premium payments so that the contract is suspended for the time being. The assets saved so far remain with the insurance company until the policy has properly expired.

The insurance company invests the capital for the insured. However, not only are the premium payments omitted, but also insurance cover. There is also a catch: If the insured is to be exempted from the premiums, the surrender value of the policy is determined first. The losses must also be taken into account. This amount is then used for the new policy, which is exempt from the premiums. The released assets do not correspond to the capital that has been paid up until then!

Conclusion: Don't just cancel, think carefully beforehand

The mixed life insurance was intended as long-term insurance protection and was managed as such, a termination is therefore not intended. If it is nevertheless to be carried out, it sometimes costs a lot of money because the insurers first deduct their own costs from the current balance of the insurance policy. Tip: If you take out life insurance, you should calculate in advance at what point in time a termination would make economic sense.

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Swiss Life and 3a customers: Business first!

Swiss Life and 3a customers: Business first!

The Swiss insurers have the well-being of the insured in mind. But for some, customer friendliness only goes as far as it serves your own good. One example of this is Swiss Life.

Together for Switzerland and your own business

Slogans like? Together for Switzerland ?, but when it comes to business, everyone seems to be next to himself. This also applies to the insurance companies that have now shown those insured with 3a that they can do different things. So Swiss Life offered a product called? FlexSave Duo? and that should generate investment profits every month. Returns of between five and ten percent were promised, and the indices should not fall into negative territory.

Customers should then only drive a zero lap. The offer was well received, many customers jumped up and even reported on the great returns that have been recorded in recent years. Things went really well on the stock markets, and the fact that profits from 3a products are tax-free was once again well received.

Once upon a time there was a saver?

One insured person was very satisfied with his savings product and now wanted to enable his wife to also make such returns. He made the duo deal. But now everything is different and Swiss Life had to adjust its conditions. She announced this to the insured, who of course were stunned. The new conditions provide that the Kassensturz with subsequent profit distribution is no longer made monthly, but once a year.

A consideration of the performance in a positive or negative direction is also only carried out once a year. The talk here was of replacing the maximum monthly creditable index performance with an annual performance. However, this reduces possible profits in the year. Of course, savers are not happy about this, even if they are promised more stable profits in return.

Another problem with the adjustment: the monthly limit on returns for months in which the indices show a strong negative trend no longer applies, but Swiss Life is assuming that these negative returns can be offset again by the end of the respective investment year.

A bad deal for the insured

Up until now, the annual return was measured against the monthly returns, which were capped and based on the individual indices. However, since February 2020 it has been the case that a maximum annual creditable index performance is to replace this procedure.

For the saver, that means a bad deal, and it was more than annoying for his wife as well. The reason: His investment of 150,000 Swiss francs is bound for another 30 years. Even if Swiss Life were to distribute the maximum possible performance return for the duration of the fixed period, this could result in a zero return. It is already foreseeable that the return will be a narrow-gauge variant, especially since Swiss Life will deduct a fixed sum from the 150,000 francs mentioned.

The guarantee capital is therefore significantly less, whereby we are talking about a few thousand francs. The customer must now start with a minus. The past few years have been good for him, because the returns were still top at that time and there was also protection against zero rounds.

With the new approach, this is no longer possible, because in the best case, returns of two percent are distributed, which of course results in completely different values than double-digit returns.

Swiss Life justified its adjustment with the fact that the persistently low interest rates ensured that net interest income plummeted. Allegedly, analyzes have shown that index participation with an annual return is significantly more lucrative than with a monthly return. Allegedly, only the uses of net interest income were adjusted, which are to be optimized for the customer. Whoever believes will be saved.

Conclusion: Swiss Life unattractive for those with 3a insurance

Anyone who is of the opinion that they can provide the best possible retirement provision with life insurance and service the 3a pillar will now be taught better thanks to the adjustments made by Swiss Life. The yields have been adjusted downwards here, supposedly in order to be able to offer the customer more optimal use of interest. But that is at best a window dressing, because the annual return distributions are significantly lower than the monthly, which were in the double-digit range. Now, in the best case, there is only a two percent return.

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Corona boosts online life insurance sales

Corona boosts online life insurance sales

Insurers complain about a decline in the direct sale of life insurance by Corona. The reason: People want better personal advice. But at the same time there was a boost due to the corona: Now life insurances are increasingly being taken out online.

Innovation in the sale of life insurance

Digitization has long since found its way into insurers and has ensured that life insurance policies can now also be taken out online. What was unthinkable for many people until recently is now a reality. No customer advisor will come home anymore, even though the need for advice is significantly greater when buying life insurance than when buying household or car insurance.

But people are now less keen to bring a customer advisor into the house and prefer to gather the necessary information online. New forms of counseling are the order of the day, and it is mainly video chats that score points with customers.

The nationwide lockdown in spring 2020 meant that insurers had to break new ground, because selling life insurance policies purely online without prior advice is simply unrealistic. People who want to be bound by a contract for as long as they do with life insurance want good advice with comprehensive information. 

This in turn meant that new methods of counseling had to be developed or the already established methods had to be made more accessible. The willingness to also take advantage of online advice has recently increased significantly among older customers too. At the same time, the inhibition threshold that had previously prevented many people from selling insurance online has fallen.

New procedure with the greatest possible security

Within just a few weeks, many insurers like Zurich Versicherung started up again and developed the technical requirements further. These had to be given for the online sale of life insurance and other insurance products. At the same time, new interfaces were needed through which the insurance can be sold.

The necessary infrastructure, on the other hand, was already available in most cases and could be used accordingly.
However, the insurers were still unsure about the right time to launch digital sales for insurance companies. The customer potential is great and goes far beyond the previous target group of people who were born between 1981 and 1996.

An important aspect of online life insurance sales: security must be guaranteed in any case. Each customer must confirm their identity before a deal can be booked as such. This is only possible if the insurer has an official ID document. In turn, this has so far only been possible if the person concerned has appeared in person at the insurance agency.

However, insurance companies can replace this procedure and rely on digital identification, which complies with the strict requirements of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
The customers of the insurers can do an ID check before taking out the insurance by following an identification process on the smartphone. Regardless of agency opening times, it is possible to be identified, the process is done in a few minutes. The person and ID are photographed via an app, the document and the information it contains are checked via a video.

The new ID check is already being celebrated as a digital breakthrough and represents the last link in digital identification. Customers can still get personal advice from a broker and then carry out the ID check in order to take out life insurance.

Conclusion: Digital offers are giving life insurance a boost

While many insurers have to complain about a decline in the sale of life insurance thanks to Corona, other providers are breaking new ground and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization. They offer a new way of online identification and combine this with video chats for advice.

Customers no longer have to come to the insurance agency or greet a broker in their own four walls. Distance is maintained, but advice does not fall by the wayside. The result: More life insurance policies are being taken out again.

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Less life insurance: Claims business is growing at Zurich

Less life insurance: Claims business is growing at Zurich

The past year 2020 was particularly decisive for Zurich Insurance in the property business. Life insurances were sold significantly less, however, which was mainly due to the corona pandemic, which was rampant worldwide. New business in this area fell sharply.

Difficult conditions for the sale of life insurance

The first lockdowns were already imposed in spring 2020 and with them came the difficulties for insurance agents as well. Because the measures made their tasks much more difficult, for example they could no longer speak directly to customers. But this is exactly a crucial point when selling life insurance: Potential customers want face-to-face discussions, want to ask questions and seek all-round advice. 

In theory, this can also be done on the phone, but in practice it is rarely handled in this way. The uncertainty of customers is great in view of a long-term contract and many do not want to rely solely on Internet information or information on the phone.

The first evaluations of the sale of life insurances by Zurich Versicherung then also provided evidence of the break-in. The annual premium equivalent collapsed by around a fifth in the first nine months of 2020 and was only USD 2.57 billion. The reasons for the slump were the restrictions that had to be accepted in several markets and which can be attributed to the Corona crisis. 

From a global perspective, however, the insurance business has grown or the decline has been limited, because growth of around seven percent in the third quarter partially offset the decline from the first two quarters.

Better claims business for insurance companies

The sale of property and casualty insurance, on the other hand, is significantly stronger than that of life insurance. The gross premiums here grew by around three percent in the period from January to September 2020. This growth was even faster than analysts expected. On the one hand, the globally increased premium rates were blamed for this.

In North America, for example, Zurich Insurance was able to achieve 18 percent higher premium rates. In Europe, too, the premiums were raised in the double-digit range.
At the same time, people's interest in liability insurance increased, which also caused prices to rise.

However, the greatest growth on the part of insurance companies was recorded by SMEs, because business with private customers was sluggish or only slight increases in profits were recorded. However, the demand for travel insurance declined in the face of numerous travel bans and entry restrictions.

Expected high load

High charges are expected not only at Zurich, but also at other insurance companies. Due to the Corona, high demands are made because of canceled trips, and SMEs also approach insurers with demands for business interruption insurance.

However, this is where the insurers differ, as some have reduced coverage for business closings or removed them entirely from the catalog of benefits. However, insurers could also face higher burdens due to the severe weather damage caused by hurricanes and other weather events.

Overall, insurers have so far been satisfied because their balance sheet remains well capitalized. In any case, this is the way Zurich Versicherung expresses itself, which is optimistic about the dividend policy.

Conclusion: higher damage, but good status of the insurers

In summary, it can be said that insurers are doing less badly in 2020 than feared. Even if they have been able to sell fewer life insurance policies and other products for which customers prefer personal advice, the claims business is still lucrative. On the one hand, higher damages have to be settled here, which is mainly the case due to necessary business interruptions and the resulting claims.

On the other hand, the desire for coverage is growing and more companies are taking out liability insurance. Private individuals also want all-round insurance and are more likely to opt for liability insurance. Contrary to expectations, the insurers could end this year with higher sales and profits than expected.

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