The largest insurance company Sogaz is the only one to reduce payments to intermediaries in 2023

Insurance market leader Sogaz is the only one of the largest industry participants to reduce payments to intermediaries in 2023. At the same time, the share of such payments from the premiums received by the insurer decreased to the market level. Last year, other major companies only increased their costs for intermediaries, without which insurance at least for individuals is essential.

In 2023, the leader of the insurance market in terms of the volume of collected premiums, Sogaz, reduced payments to intermediaries by 32%, to 66.4 billion rubles, according to Central Bank statistics. Other major insurers have significantly increased their intermediary fees. In particular, payments to AlfaStrakhovanie increased by 33%, to 35.7 billion rubles, VSK – by 25%, to 25.2 billion rubles, RESO-Garantiya – by 23%, to 23.7 billion rubles ., Ingosstrakh – by 15%, to 18.9 billion rubles. These changes occurred against the backdrop of maintaining the collection of premiums from Sogaz, while simultaneously increasing the collection of premiums from other insurers.

As a result, the share of costs for intermediaries from the volume of collected premiums at Sogaz decreased to 22% from 32% in 2022. That is, in fact, it returned to the market level. So, in 2023, the same indicator for VSK was 22%, for AlfaStrakhovanie – 20%, for RESO-Garantiya – 17%, for Ingosstrakh – 11%. In 2022, the share of payments to intermediaries from large companies was also 11–22%. Sogaz did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

According to Expert RA, the main activities of Sogaz are voluntary health insurance, insurance against accidents and illnesses, as well as property insurance for legal entities. The company sells insurance products through credit institutions – the share of premiums received through this channel is 27.6% of premiums. However, the banks’ commission is 81.6% of the premiums received through this sales channel.

According to experts, the reduction in payments to intermediaries may be due to the need to save money. Over the past five to seven years, Sogaz has managed to achieve relevant diversification of its insurance portfolio, however, the share of expenses aimed at attracting new policyholders in insurance premiums was higher than market values, notes independent expert Andrey Barkhota. In his opinion, to improve operational efficiency, the company could reduce remuneration to intermediaries in low-margin areas. The company could also reduce the share of accident insurance, where there are small payments, but a significantly higher commission, notes Alexander Tsyganov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

“Accident and illness insurance, investment and endowment life insurance are mostly sold by insurers through banks, motor hull insurance is sold through dealers and agents,” explains Olga Basova, senior director for ratings of insurance and investment companies at Expert RA. According to her, without intermediaries, insurers “usually work to insure property and liability of legal entities.” There are no intermediaries either in tenders or in cases where the insurer has direct contact with clients, in particular the historical client base, related enterprises, says Evgeniy Ilchenko, director of the underwriting and reinsurance department at Absolut Insurance.

The Central Bank does not see problems with high commissions. There are no legislative restrictions for voluntary types of insurance; the amount of commission in a competitive environment is determined by market mechanisms, the Bank of Russia explained. In addition, if we are not talking about unfair practices on the part of the insurer and risks to its financial stability, there are no compelling reasons for increased attention to the activities of such a company, the regulator noted.

Yulia Poslavskaya