NAIROBI, Kenya, April 13 – General insurers cut their losses by almost half in the fourth quarter of 2022 attributed to an increase in general insurance premiums and a slow growth in claims.
The latest data from the Insurance Regulatory Authority(IRA) shows that general insurers posted a Sh3.72 billion loss in the period down from a loss of Sh6.34 billion reported in Q4 2021.
In the period under review, insurance premiums hit Sh309.77 billion representing an increase of 12.2 per cent from Sh276.06 billion in Q4 2021.
On the other hand, general insurers reported claims incurred went up to Sh77.64 billion during the period representing an increase of 10.7 per cent from Sh70.14 billion reported in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Medical had the highest incurred claims at 41.9 per cent, followed by motor private at 24.8 per cent and motor commercial at 23.4 per cent.
Further, the data shows that the claims paid under general insurance increased by 12.9 per cent to Sh72.26 billion compared to Sh64 billion paid in Q4 2021.
Medical, motor private and motor commercial had the highest amounts of paid claims at 43.5, 24.9 and 21.9 per cent respectively of total industry paid claims under general insurance business.
Long term insurance business premiums grew by 13.8 per cent to Sh140.84 billion compared to Sh123.71 billion in 2021.
Deposit Administration and Life Assurance classes remained the biggest contributors to the long-term insurance business accounting for 35.9 and 25.2 per cent respectively.
The class recorded net premium income of Sh128.78 billion representing an increase of 11.9 per cent from Sh115.06 billion reported by the end of Q4 2021.
In the period under review, general insurance premiums amounted to Sh168.92 billion with medical and motor insurance classes maintaining a leading position in terms of contribution at 32.5 and 31.9 per cent respectively.
Personal Accident and miscellaneous classes are the only classes whose premiums decreased by 2.5 and 12.4 per cent respectively.
In the period, IRA notes that the reinsurers’ business volume increased by 26.1 per cent to Sh39.36 billion compared to Sh31.22 billion in Q4 2021.
Underwriting results also improved significantly from a profit of Sh752.26 million in Q4 2021 to a profit of Sh1.38 billion in Q4 2022.
