Generali, Unipol and more: have motor liability insurance toasted with the pandemic?
What emerged in the Motor TPL sector from the IVASS annual report on insurance
Over two billion euros. That's how much insurance has earned with the pandemic. In the darkest months of Covid-19, while Italy was paralyzed by the lockdown, in fact, TPL contracts continued to run. Only in 2020, which was then the year of the two closures (in spring and Christmas) and of the interrupted circulation, the I VASS , the Institute for the Supervision of Insurance, in its annual report had estimated that the companies had saved 2.2 billion euros. And, although on several occasions the insurance companies had claimed to have reimbursed the amount received from motorists stopped at home in the pandemic, IVASS always ruled that the refreshments amounted to just over 800 million, while the remaining one billion and four helped to raise company profits by 45%, while tariffs fell by 5.5% and compensation costs reduced by as much as 20%.
HAVE THE INSURANCE RETURNED THE AMOUNT RECEIVED IN A PANDEMIC TO HELP THE ITALIANS
The dossier, never officially opened by the Conte II government, could now be addressed by the executive of Mario Draghi , in an attempt to relieve the savings of families, struggling with the expensive bills, the increase in fuel due to the invasion of 'Ukraine by Russia and the steady growth of inflation. Forcing insurance companies to return auto liability insurance in full pandemic, while cars did not circulate and therefore did not even cause accidents, could be a sort of 'one-off' bonus in favor of Italians without making extra deficits, given that the money would come from companies.
BRAKES: "OF THE 800 MILLION, PROVIDED 348"
The Undersecretary for the Economy, Federico Freni , spoke about it during a parliamentary question by the cinquestelle Alessio Villarosa in the Finance Committee in the Chamber: "In the context of further measures, any proposals that may concern the insurance sector, including those solicited by the questioners ". "The Ivass – continued the Northern League player Freni – reported that the insurance companies have planned benefits for the policyholders valued at 811 million, of which 348 million have already been disbursed at the time of the investigation".
A VARIEGATED PANORAMA
The undersecretary recalled how "the types of refreshments used and the size of the financial commitment were very heterogeneous among the companies: renewal discounts, coverage extensions, etc." And indeed the landscape was somewhat jagged and varied, as we had already reported by taking stock of the situation. UnipolSai, for example, had launched the #unmeseperte campaign launched in April 2020: for customers with a third party liability insurance policy in effect on 10 April, a voucher was issued for the value of one month of the premium paid which could be used to renew the policy from from 22 April last year. The minimum value of the voucher was 20 euros and marine insurance policies and insurance policies for fleet vehicles were excluded from the initiative.
The decision by Generali which gave the possibility to suspend the car policy until 31 July 2020 – even for just 1 day – for all vehicles was different. The suspension also obliged a hospitalization for the car since during the stop period the vehicle was without insurance coverage and therefore could not circulate nor could it be parked on public roads.
Cattolica Assicurazioni had launched the initiative “A month has 30 more days with us” . In practice, Motor TPL customers could have a discount equal to one month of their current policy to be used to renew the policy expiring from April 2020 to May 2021 or to subscribe to a new product for the person, home or business. , increasing your level of protection.
For the Vittoria Assicurazioni group, a series of interventions in favor of customers such as the suspension of judicial actions for the recovery of premiums, deductibles and claims at least until the end of September 2020; the incentive for renewal with monthly premiums without interest and access to the payment of the first installment also by bank transfer and then with other initiatives reserved for other types of policies, such as health and those for operators and operators in the tourism and catering sector.
Allianz had launched the Stop & Drive campaign , which was added to the normal (typically seasonal) suspension options for RC cars already included in the contracts it stipulates. It should be noted that the activation of Stop & Drive suspended the Third Party Liability policy but kept all the different Auto Risks insurance protections (Theft, Fire, Explosion, etc.) active at no cost if included in the contract.
AND NOW?
Not all companies have acted, however, although ANIA (the National Association of Insurance Companies) disputes the numbers of IVASS , arguing that the treasure that insurance companies have set aside with the pandemic would amount only to 2.1 billion ( not 2.2) and that one billion would have already been returned to customers with the cancellation of the deductibles or vouchers for the extension of the policies beyond the expiry date, but obviously on condition not to change company. There are even those who claim that they have not repaid the policyholders directly, donating their money to the fight against Covid … In short, we are moving towards the technical table, with the awareness that it will not be easy for the government to get into such a mess and find out who has returned and those who have collected and it will be even more difficult to force the companies to refund.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/rc-auto-le-assicurazioni-hanno-brindato-con-la-pandemia/ on Mon, 21 Mar 2022 07:33:58 +0000.