Zurich warns of motor premium hike

by Gill Montia

Story link: Zurich warns of motor premium hike

Zurich will be increasing its motor insurance premiums in 2010 because of a rise of third party and personal injury claims.

The firm sees the current market as unsustainable and from March could be hiking broker premiums by as much as a fifth.

According to the company’s general insurance chief executive officer, Steve Lewis, inflation and higher claims volumes have pushed the cost of covering losses up by 50% in recent years.

In the case of bodily injury claims, the frequency has risen by 30% “with a worsening trend throughout 2009″.

Earlier this month, EMB reported that motor insurer results even worse than feared in 2009.

Research by the actuarial firm revealed that combined loss ratios for the private and commercial motor insurance market are set to exceed 115%.

The company reported: “A sharp increase in bodily injury claims has more than offset the premium increases that insurers have been able to achieve in recent months.”

Adding: “This, combined with the reduced reserves available for release, will result in significantly deteriorated reported results for many companies for the year.”