The volume of commissions paid by insurers to intermediaries this year was the highest since 2013

The volume of commissions paid by insurers to intermediaries this year increased by almost one and a half times and turned out to be the highest since 2013. Most of it fell on voluntary types of insurance, while the share of payments to intermediaries on compulsory insurance fell to a minimum over the observation period. According to experts, the general increase in commissions was provided by banks and the trend will not change in the second quarter.

According to the results of January-March of this year, payments by insurers to intermediaries exceeded 101 billion rubles, which was the highest value in the history of observations – since 2013, follows from the “Overview of key performance indicators of insurers” from the Bank of Russia, published last week. In the first quarter of 2022, the amount of remuneration for intermediaries amounted to RUB 69.7 billion, i.e. it increased by 1.45 times.

The share of life insurance payments in the first quarter of 2023 was less than a quarter. At the same time, the share of payments to intermediaries for compulsory insurance fell to a minimum of 2%.

According to experts, the record volume of commissions to intermediaries is mainly due to the growth of sales in the banking channel. The amount of commission paid to intermediaries depends significantly on the sale of insurance products through the largest channel – credit institutions, says Ekaterina Serova, director of ratings for insurance and investment companies at Expert RA.

In particular, in January-March 2023, commission payments to banks increased due to an increase in sales of insurance products related to lending, which are characterized by high commissions, she explains. Sales through intermediaries bring about a third of all contributions to insurers, therefore, with the growth of the market as a whole, the volume of commissions has also increased, adds Oleg Khanin, General Director of Soyuz Insurance.

Experts associate the fall in the share of compulsory insurance to a minimum with the OSAGO segment. Contributions for compulsory types of insurance are mainly represented by contributions under OSAGO agreements, which are characterized by a low amount of commission fees to intermediaries. The value of the total remuneration for compulsory types is almost completely dictated by the size of the commission for OSAGO, which determines the dynamics of the indicator, Ms. Serova explains.

According to independent expert Andrei Barkhota, companies in the compulsory insurance segment are not ready to increase their acquisition costs so significantly, since, as a rule, price competition unfolds in compulsory insurance programs and customers often choose an insurance company at the most favorable rate for them.

Meanwhile, according to Alexander Tsyganov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, a small share of life insurance in payments to intermediaries reflects the structure of the market with the prevalence of “non-life”, and one-fourth is obtained taking into account the high level of commission on investment life insurance (LIS) in banks.

However, Mr. Khanin clarifies, the dynamics of life insurance shows that the segment has begun to face unprofitability, which was not there before, so insurers may consider saving on commissions to intermediaries. Against the backdrop of increasing regulatory pressure, we can expect a decrease in sales and commissions in ILI, Alexander Tsyganov adds.

Experts expect that payments to intermediaries will continue to grow in the second quarter, although perhaps not at such a rapid pace. According to Andrei Barkhota, payments to intermediaries will increase by 5–15% compared to April-June 2022. Then they amounted to 67.3 billion rubles.

Julia Poslavskaya