Ileana HORVATH, President of the Board, UNIQA Asigurari
The Romanian market remains a market too little interested with regards to insurance. That is why, in this economic context, the consumers, reaction regarding the insurance industry is still a very weak one, as the ones that are interested are not very informed in this area and do not realize to what extent they are and can be affected by lack of insurance.
XPRIMM: How do you estimate the insurance industry will evolve during 2009-2011?
What would the best strategies for a company be so that it can handle
this difficult period?
Ileana HORVATH: I appreciate that the insurance market will evolve differently
on each insurance class. For life insurance, I estimate a stagnation in
the near future. The most appropriate strategy to overcome this difficult
period is to increase the volume of gross written premiums through all
distribution channels, by improving existing products and even by launching
new products, according to consumer needs. All these are objectives of
UNIQA Asigurari. In addition, the company UNIQA Asigurari is permanently
concerned in providing prompt and efficient services, coupled with rapid
resolution of claims cases, along with financial stability, reliability
and sustainable development.
XPRIMM: How did the consumers perception change regarding the insurance
industry once the economic crisis has installed and how could insurance
societies react to these attitudes?
I. H.: The Romanian market remains a market too little interested with
regards to insurance. That is why, in this economic context, the consumers'
reaction
regarding the insurance industry is still a very weak one, as the ones
that are interested are not very informed in this area and do not realize
to what extent they are and can be affected by lack of insurance.
XPRIMM: How did the introduction of the amicable report influence the clients
perception regarding the motor insurance segment and the services offered
to them?
I. H.: The introduction of the amicable report had an unexpected effect
for us, but in a positive way. Customers have perceived quite well these
changes, furthermore for us, ths insurers, it is an advantage that they
enter in direct contact with us and, this way, they discover insurance
products they did not know anything about before. We thus have the chance
of making a new client out of an injured party. Everything depends on us!
XPRIMM: Implementation of mandatory household insurance is regarded as
one of the opportunities of 2009. What you expect from this project?
I. H.: The law of mandatory household insurance and the methodology,
in terms of its implementation, are still being finalized by the ISC. For
this reason, we cannot yet estimate the effects of its enforcement.
We hope, however, that this mandatory household insurance product will
be an insurance product known by everyone. And, from one product sold to
a client, we can go to another product sold and so on...
XPRIMM: What potential do you consider voluntary household insurance
to have in the current economic context?
I. H.: The current socio-economic context is not a favorable one for the
ordinary citizens to engage in expenses that are not the usual daily ones
(food etc.). Voluntary household insurance is not considered yet a necessity
by the population, therefore it has a quite low development potential at
this time.
| Published on 12.11.2009 |