“Life insurance is an investment in protecting you and your family, not costs”

According to the Colombian Federation of Insurers (facecolda), 48% more people have died in the last two years than the average of the last five years. However, life and personal insurers assumed $1.3 billion for damages, of which 80% of cases were settled due to death. With this balance, David Colmenares, president of Allianz Colombia, highlighted the challenges the industry still faces, as well as the up to $45,000 million compensation they have paid in life insurance due to covid-19.

How were Allianz’s financial results in 2021?

Our results last year were acceptable considering the current situation in the country and as insurers. It should be noted that there were two impacts on the accident rate, one of which was covid-19 and social protests which led to a lower balance than in 2020 and 2019.

The number of insurance applications that came in after March 2020 was incredible, but the truth is that it’s not a good point to find out that someone could die because of the pandemic. That’s not really a good focus.

CONTRAST

  • mario crossDirector of Life and the people of Fasecolda

    “Women are more forward looking for their own and their families’ futures, so those with the most insurance in the country reach a turnout of 51.4 percent.”

How was the payment of Allianz’s receivables in 2021?

The largest compensation we received in volume was for covid-19, which, unlike other years, consisted of $45,000 million in lives; in health, almost the same number; and in social protests, $15,000 million.

What figures did you record in premium issuances in 2021?

While last year was a good year for premium production with double-digit growth for the insurance industry, it grew by 9.9% for us.

Did the current crisis in Ukraine want people and companies to insure themselves more?

As a matter of fact, this will have a global impact not only in politics and economy, but also in the insurance market. When these events happen, people often see the need to take out insurance, but because there is no deeper knowledge of the matter, they will not cancel or renew within three months and if it stops the war. Only those who are aware of the risks remain insured.

This means that insurance penetration in Colombia is still very low. Although, as the insurance industry, we have projections that we will reach 3.5% of the Gross Domestic Product in the medium term.

How many policies do you currently have? What types of insurance do Allianz affiliates want most?

We have a little over 1.5 million insured people in Colombia. The first branch that comes to a person’s mind is the automobile, but they think about insuring their car, not the damages it will cause to a third person.

We are the second player in the Colombian market in this field and have approximately 400,000 subsidiaries. Health insurance comes second, followed by life.

Also we are the only insurer has a voluntary pension fund with savings and investment solutions for those with a long-term vision. In this field, we have 35,000 affiliated employees with an investment of approximately 300,000 million dollars.

How is the agricultural sector progressing in insurance?

Very good. We insure the crops and have the backing of Finagro with positive growth although this branch is dependent on the risks of nature. The growth in premiums has been 20% in the last two years.

How does Colombia compare to the region in terms of policy acquisition?

Currently our penetration is 3% but the regional average is above us. Chile leads the way in participation, up to 7% of GDP, more than double that of Colombia.

Insurance is still a luxury for many people, how will it democratize?

The more insurance coverage we have, the cheaper the insurance will be and the more premium volume we will be able to generate.

At the end of the day, insurance is more of an investment in protection than an expense. If you don’t have life insurance, a family will be homeless, so it’s crucial that people understand the importance of this.

How do you balance insurance fraud?

The global average tells us that between 5% and 15% of all claims that reach companies have some form of fraudulent factor. Some uncertainty causes people to view insurance as an opportunity to increase claims for a loss, which is why we have internal and external spaces to analyze claims with detectives to avoid this crime. We have a target of $15 billion in fraud savings this year.

PROFILE

David Colmenares Spence has been the CEO in Colombia of Allianz, one of the world’s largest financial groups and the largest international insurance company in the industry, since 2017. Sergio Arboleda is a graduate of the University’s Law School and a compensation specialist who has worked abroad for nearly 20 years and has been involved in many global disasters over the past decade. On the other hand, he has been the Vice Chairman of Fasecolda’s Board of Directors since 2019 and is the chairman of the board of the MBA program of Sergio Arboleda University, an academic program that brings together some of the most important business leaders in the world. country.

Source: Lare Publica

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