Ileana HORVATH, President of the Board, UNIQA Asigurari

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.