Saudi- Insurance premiums up 19% to SR25bn

(MENAFN- Arab News) The value of insurance premiums in the saudi market rose by 19.2 percent to reach sr25.2 billion in 2013 compared to sr21.2 billion in 2012 according to a financial report

Meanwhile the health insurance sector which represented 51 percent of the insurance market grew by 14.3 percent to sr 12.9 billion compared to sr11.3 billion in 2012 the report based on saudi arabian monetary agency (sama) data said

Growth in general insurance which represented 46 percent of the insurance market reached 27.8 percent to sr11.5 billion compared to sr9 billion in 2012 whereas growth in protection and saving insurance sector which represented 3 percent of the insurance market dropped by 5 percent to sr845 million in 2013 compared to sr 889 million in 2012 the report said

According to the sama report the insurance companies encountered a series of problems in 2013 notably their need to adjust insurance reserves rise in claims and non-application of an appropriate pricing before the year 2013

As regards claims the report said the value of claims substantially grew to sr15.9 billion in 2013 compared to sr10.9 billion in 2012 or an increase of 45.8 percent the report said

The number of settled claims in a three-year period (2010-2013) rose by 36.5 percent whereas insurance premiums rose by only 21 percent during the same period which has negatively affected the operating income of the companies in general according to the report

On the other hand some of insurance companies are still suffering from non-application of suitable pricing in years preceding 2013 where insurance policies sold by the companies were not based on proper technical standards a matter that brought losses to the companies in 2013 the report pointed out.