CUK Insurance – an insurance multiagency – developed calculation, which shows that the average cost of MTPL insurance premiums has increased. At the beginning of April 2016 it amounted to PLN 667, i.e. by 7.6 percent more than in January and about 36 percent more than in early 2015. Some insurance companies increased rates by 50-60 percent.
– Regardless of the driver, the vehicle or the city, in the past year and in the first quarter 2016 prices went up. In general, last year recorded a growth of 20-30 percent. It is worth reminding that this is an average. According to Maciej Kuczwalski, expert of CUK Insurance, in case of some insurance companies, prices rose by as much as 50-60 percent.
Experts say that increases of MTPL insurance are a consequence of last year’s price war, which resulted in significant losses incurred by insurance companies or a reduction in profits in property insurance companies at the end of 2015. The last year’s low results was also affected by the guidelines of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, which forced the insurance companies to raise the quality of motor claims handling, what in consequence increased their costs. In addition, last year was a record in terms of the amount of benefits paid for damages incurred as a result of traffic accidents. The Insurance Guarantee Fund has estimated that the amount of benefits increased by 12 percent, i.e. in 2015 insurance companies paid a total compensation of PLN 1.3 billion, even though the number of persons injured or killed as a result of road accidents decreased by 10 percent against the previous year.
Rates of MTPL insurance can continue to grow. Currently, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority is working on recommendations on the process of determining and paying compensation for non-property damage under MTPL policy. The document is intended to harmonize the market and the system of compensation payments. A draft recommendation shall be prepared by 30 June 2016. Insurance companies, according to current projections, would be obliged to implement the new recommendations until the end of the year. It is probable that in the nearest future, the government will take up works on the so-called Religa’s tax. It assumes imposing tax of MTPL insurance sold, which would be passed to fund emergency departments. Another idea of the government includes the introduction of an obligation to settle damages on the basis of invoices.
Experts believe that making up for last year’s losses by insurance companies actually require raising MTPL premiums for an additional 10 percent. New regulations in this market significantly accelerate insurers’ decisions as to the introduction of further rises. On the other hand, the Insurance Guarantee Fund data show that on Polish roads there is less and less cars without compulsory MTPL, although there are still about 150 thousand of them.
