Dutch Insurance Industry in Figures has been compiled by the Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) in conjunction with Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and is a publication of the Dutch Association of Insurers (Verbond van Verzekeraars). Although the utmost care has been devoted to the quality and the validity of the data, the CVS, the CBS and the Dutch Association of Insurers accept no liability for the repercussions of any inaccuracies in the figures included. Suggestions for future publications and any other comments or remarks are welcome. With Dutch insurance industry in figures the Dutch Association of Insurers intend to provide a statistical impression of the scale and significance of the Dutch insurance industry. It also presents a picture of the economic and social context in which insurers operate. The tables and graphs have been ordered by theme; data which are related to each other are given in close proximity. The list of contents gives the chapter headings. Each chapter moreover is preceded by a detailed overview with all the tables by number on each page. You can see from an icon whether a table is accompanied by a graph. The publication does not contain any notes or explanatory texts apart from a brief comment on the bottom of the tables. In some cases relevant data from comparable sectors from abroad have been included. Introduction The year 2000 was a bad year for Dutch non-life insurers. The joint result (The result is a technical result expressed as a percentage of the gross earned premium on domestic business, after interest and reinsurance but pre-tax.) fell from 0.8% in 1999 to -1% in 2000. The main cause was the sharp decline in fire insurance especially because of the firework disaster in Enschede and a number of other major fires. The heath care insurance result fell from 0.3% in 1999 to 0% in 2000. The life insurers result fell slightly to 7.7% as against 7.8% in 1999. Profit in guilders rose as a result of the 12% increase in premiums. Life insurance The life insurance figures fell slightly in 2000 to 7.7% as against the 1999 figure of 7.8%, that was comparable with the preceding years. Income from premiums in 2000 was NLG 52.2 billion as against NLG 46.7 billion in 1999. The 12% rise in premium income produced a guilder increase in the result. This worked out at NLG 5.7 billion in 2000 as against NLG 5.1 billion in 1999. Traditional insurance in guilders again grew slightly in contrast to preceding years as a result of the less auspicious investment climate. Consumers have become more cautious in their investment behaviour. In anticipation of the introduction of the 2001 tax plan new production of individual life insurance rose by 16% in 2000 compared to 1999 to NLG 15.7 billion. Many new single premium policies were sold especially in the last quarter of 2000. Altogether in 2000 NLG 11.3 billion was spent on new single premium policies, 33% more than in 1999. Non-life insurance The result of the overall non-life business deteriorated in 2000. After reinsurance the post interest result fell to -1%. In 1999 the figure had been 1%. In 2000 claims grew faster than income from premiums. Premium income for all non-life and health care insurance together rose by 7% to NLG 36.3 billion. As in preceding years the increase in 2000 is attributable to the health care insurers where premium income rose by 9%. In other branches premium income rose by 6%, the first time in years that it amply exceeded the growth in insured volume and inflation. All non-life branches except motor vehicles showed declining figures for reinsurance. The cost percentage remained reasonably stable and interest income rose minimally. Motor vehicles The motor vehicle result improved slightly from -2% in 1999 to -1% in 2000. This slight improvement was apparent in the majority of the individual branches. Premium income which increased by 7% clearly rose significantly more than the growth in the number of motor vehicles. The increases in premiums that many insurers have introduced in recent years are apparently beginning to have some effect. In the case of private cars the figures even showed a clear improvement from -3% of earned premium in 1999 to 1% in 2000. Both for third party and all risk insurance the loss per claim increased but claim frequency fell more sharply so that on balance performance improved. In 2000 5.6% more cars were stolen than in 1999 but the number of recovered cars grew less so that the recovery percentage has fallen. In the case of goods vehicles the result was negative but not as poor as it was in 1999 primarily because of relatively lower third party claims. Fire Fire insurance results fell dramatically from 5% in 1999 to -1.9% in 2000. A more marked continuation of the falling trend of past years. Premium income admittedly increased but claims increased much more. Notably in the business market the result fell drastically because of the sharp rise in claims mainly deriving from Enschede and other major fires. Transport A slight rise in premium incomes of 1.5% was posted for marine/ transport insurance in 2000. Total premium income (NLG 1.1 billion in 2000) has been displaying a slightly steady decline for a number of years now for one thing because of the reduced capacity on the exchange. That movement with the exception of a single product would seem to have been halted. The result rose from 0.3% in 1999 to 1.4% in 2000, thanks to a great number of reinsured claims. Other insurance Results under the heading of ‘other insurance’ fell from 0.5% in 1999 to 0.1% in 2000. Premium incomes admittedly increased but claims increased more. The main branches under this heading are Liability and Legal Assistance. Liability insurance for private individuals climbed out of red figures and liability insurance for businesses posted a better score, especially because of a sharp fall in the percentage of claims. Legal assistance insurance posted a slight rise. The legal assistance insurance for families, which is still growing robustly, showed a slightly better result, but nevertheless still remained clearly negative. Health care insurance Health care insurance includes Medical expenses Insurance and Miscellaneous medical. The result was 0%. Premium income rose by 8.7% to NLG 17.0 billion. Medical expenses insurance posted a negative result of -3.3% in 2000 and thus remained in the red as in preceding years although a slight improvement has been noticeable over the last two years. The latter is primarily attributable to the reduction in management and acquisition costs. Miscellaneous medical insurance comprises job disability insurance, insurance related to the statutory job disability insurance, absenteeism insurance and personal accident insurance. The results here were positive although decline was noticeable: from 6.9% in 1999 to 4.4% in 2000. The cause is above all the poorer result for job disability insurance resulting from the sharp rise in the claims reserve, despite the higher premiums. After years of heavy losses, absenteeism insurance is almost out of the red. Increases in premiums introduced by insurers in recent years have had an impact but not sufficient as yet. (A)
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