Employees cut bonuses – Newspaper Kommersant No. 223 (7424) dated 12/01/2022

At the end of 2022, the growth of the voluntary medical insurance (VHI) segment may turn out to be less than preliminary estimates of 10% for three quarters. Despite an increase in industry prices and an increase in the number of customers, there is no comparable increase in the average cost of a policy. In addition, market participants are pessimistic about the prolongation of contracts.

According to a Kommersant survey of insurance companies from the top 20, for three quarters, the collection of premiums for voluntary medical insurance (VHI) of large companies remained at the level of last year. In particular, the fees of RESO-Garantia (third place, according to Expert RA, based on the results of the first half of 2022) “virtually did not change compared to the same period last year,” the company noted. In Rosgosstrakh (fifth place), the volume of collected premiums for the three quarters of this year is also comparable to last year’s figure. Smaller companies reported a noticeable increase in collected premiums. Renaissance Insurance and VSK showed growth of 22% and 6% respectively. Sovcombank Insurance increased fees by 25%, while Capital Life Life Insurance increased by 2.6 times.

On the whole, the growth in the market for nine months can reach up to 10%, estimates the director for ratings of insurance companies of the NKR agency Yevgeny Sharapov. According to a study by Kept (former KPMG), the dynamics are driven by rising prices for medical services and goods, as well as continued demand from corporate clients and an increase in supply for more budget and technological products.

According to Tatyana Nikitina, senior director of ratings for financial companies at NRA, the growth in the cost of insurance services amounted to just 10-15%. In addition, market participants point to an increase in the customer base. In “Capital Life Life Insurance” the number of clients increased by 71%, in “Sovcombank insurance” – by 20%, the companies reported.

However, often a significant increase in customers did not bring a corresponding increase in revenue. According to the results of the first half of the year, the Central Bank noted that the average insurance premium fell below 2,000 rubles, and customers preferred inexpensive truncated programs.

According to Alexander Tsyganov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the decrease in the average cost of a policy is due to the inclusion in the statistics of migrants who are insured for the minimum possible amount in order to fulfill the requirements of the law. At the same time, the expert emphasizes that migrants are of interest mainly to mid-level insurers.

The departure of international companies from Russia, which are more actively insuring their employees, has not yet significantly affected the segment. Aleksey Yanin, Managing Director for ratings of insurance and investment companies at Expert RA, explains that in most cases, companies only changed owners and names, reformatted their work and continued their activities one way or another. Ms. Nikitina notes that some of the relocated employees continued to use the services of Russian insurance companies for those traveling abroad.

But at the end of the year, experts agree, the VMI segment will slow down growth. According to Alexei Yanin, it will be 4-6%. Yulia Temkina, head of Kept’s practice for working with companies in the financial sector, estimates the lower limit at 5%. Even at the beginning of autumn, experts were more positive and expected growth of at least 10% (see Kommersant of September 28).

Marina Chernomorova, head of the RESO-Garantia health insurance products department, explains that “the time has come for prolongations and there is less optimism.” Dmitry Afrikanov, CEO of the Unicom ecosystem, believes that in the current realities there will hardly be a mass refusal of VHI, while it is possible that some companies will introduce a franchise of 10-20%, thereby compensating for the increase in the price of the policy.

Julia Poslavskaya