9mo general insurance premiums advance 7.7% YoY, life insurers’ segment up by 9.3%.

The gross premium income from general insurance has increased by 7.7% YoY in the first 9 months of 2016 to BGN 1.2bn, while claims declined by 1.8% during the same period. The profit of the general insurance sector in Jan-Sept advanced by 11.8% YoY to BGN 64.7m. Leader in premium income is Bulstrad Vienna Insurance Group (12.4% market share), followed by Lev Ins (12.1%) and Armeetz (11.4%). The MTPL insurance holds the largest share in general insurance premiums – 37.4%. The life insurance premiums reached BGN 326m in Jan-Sept 2016, up 9.3% YoY, while claims paid jumped by 26% for the same period. The profit of Bulgarian life insurers, however, was up by 37.7% as a result of a smaller change in the technical reserves. Allianz Bulgaria holds the largest share in life insurance premiums – 26.3%, second comes Bulstrad Life Vienna Insurance Group (18.9), while Unica Life holds 14.2%.