Corporate clients of VHI began to change insurers more often

Against the backdrop of tightening insurance conditions and medical inflation, cases of large corporate clients changing their VHI insurer have become more frequent. According to experts, industrial companies and financial organizations are taking advantage of the situation in this way and saving money, receiving more favorable conditions from the new insurance company for the first time. However, preferential conditions are unlikely to last for more than a year, and companies that abuse such migration risk being left without a quality service provider.

At the end of 2023, corporate clients began to more often change insurers providing VHI services, two large insurance brokers told Kommersant. According to the head of the personal insurance department of the insurance broker Nobilis, Mikhail Kunin, in 2022, approximately 15% of clients changed insurers, and in 2023 – about 25%.

At the same time, the migration of clients occurs mainly within the top 10 VHI insurers, according to the company “Marsh – Insurance Brokers”. We are talking about large industrial companies and financial organizations. For the insurers themselves, companies with 1–1.5 thousand insured people from large cities are attractive, while the type of activity does not matter, said Mikhail Kunina. At the same time, due to growing competition, insurers are actively expanding into the regions, notes Ekaterina Lvova, director for development of personal types of insurance at AST insurance consultant.

A number of large insurers in the segment confirm the trend. Previously, approximately 10% of clients moved across the market as a whole, but today 15–18% are migrating, VSK estimates. “The portfolio has grown, among other things, due to the transfer of clients of other insurers to us,” said Alexander Lapunov, director of the underwriting and VHI methodology department at AlfaStrakhovanie. Renaissance Insurance also observes cases of migration in the market.

According to experts, the increased migration of clients under VHI may be associated with sanctions and tougher insurance conditions. We know of several cases when, after one of the large insurance companies came under Western sanctions, its foreign clients went to another insurer under VHI, notes Marina Chernomorova, head of the health insurance products department at RESO-Garantiya.

To maintain the margins of corporate voluntary health insurance in the context of medical inflation, according to B1 partner Tatyana Samsonova, insurers can either increase rates or regulate the volume of payments by optimizing the voluntary health insurance program. Clinics have been increasing their prices for insurers by 20–25% for at least a year, notes Dmitry Surovtsev, head of the development of insurance products and customer loyalty at Soglasiya. As a result, according to Sber Insurance Broker, for 2023 the average increase in tariffs was 20%.

However, the current situation offers corporate clients a chance to save money. By leaving one insurance company for another, you can get more favorable price conditions, notes Olga Kuptsova, director of the methodology and underwriting department for personal insurance at Rosgosstrakh. To attract a new client, the insurer can either offer a discount on the cost of insurance or a more comprehensive program with the conditions familiar to the policyholder’s employees, adds Ms. Samsonova. However, it is not a fact that these conditions will be confirmed in a year when the contract is extended, warns Ms. Kuptsova. At the same time, insurers can exclude expensive clinics from the list of medical institutions or reduce the volume of services – this way they can reduce the cost of insurance by up to 30%, notes Sber Insurance Broker.

Nevertheless, the process of customer migration will continue actively this year. According to Mr. Kunin, in 2024, more than 30% of companies may change their insurance company.

Yulia Poslavskaya, Dmitry Kozlov