Keeping Up With The Market – November 2022

Every month, we help you keep up with the Belgian insurance market.

1. Mergers & acquisitions

2. Partnership

3. Products

4. Market

5. Financial results

6. Legislation

Mergers & acquisitions

Insudata saved from bankruptcy

After being declared bankrupt, the company Insudata, including Sigura and Cobra, has been transferred to Wim Coekelbergs, the actual director of Insudata. He will act in his own name or in the name of a company to be created.

Insudata creates and develops data management software for insurance companies.

 

AG and BNP to acquire Touring

AG and BNP Paribas Fortis become shareholders of Touring, with 75 and 25% respectively. The three companies are partners for several years. The amount of the acquisition has not been reported yet.

The CEO of Touring, Bruno de Thibault, believes this acquisition to be essential to remain the leader of the sector in a never-changing market. Touring will remain independent within this new organization, but will become a subsidiary of AG. As a result, Touring’s activities will be part of AG’s portfolio, unlike BNP which has no operational power.

Products will continue to be sold under the brand name Touring and this acquisition will not have any consequence for the 600 collaborators of the company.

The closing of the sale is expected by mid-2023.

 

Partnership

AG and Colruyt to launch an autonomous vehicle

AG and Colruyt join together to launch a project of autonomous vehicle on the public road. This vehicle is intended to deliver products from Colruyt to one of its collection point in Londerzeel. It is a great first in Belgium and it will allow AG to gain more experience in the field of mobility.

In this partnership, AG will insure the civil liability of the vehicle. This pilot project is aimed at collecting data on risks of autonomous vehicles and supporting alternative mobility.

 

Products

Renault and Mobilize Insurance

Renault launches a car insurance subsidiary for the European market, called Mobilize Insurance.

The objective? To market motor contracts under their own brand, associated with an insurance partnership in each country. Renault already collaborates with Allianz and Axa.

Basically, Renault will start launching its new product in France in September 2023, and then the car giant will expand it into Italy and Germany. The group’s target is 3,6 million contracts by 2030.

 

Market

ING investor barometer at its lowest level

ING investor barometer has achieved its lowest level since 2004. In fact, the latter reached 57 points, which is 43 points below the neutrality level. Most of the investors interviewed pointed out that the economic situation worsened in the last three months.

ING press release

As ING mentioned, the long-term expectations regarding the stock market achieved a low level. Therefore, investors have a smaller risk appetite. Indeed, only 21% of them think it is the right time to invest in the riskiest sectors.

 

Supplementary pension: data and bill published

Each year, the FSMA publishes data concerning the second pension pilar, i.e. the supplementary pension.

In Belgium, 4.170.000 people have a supplementary pension, an increase of 3% compared to last year. According to the FSMA, employees are more likely to create such fund thanks to a company plan or a sectoral plan. The reserves built up under a company plan amount to 59.3 billion euros compared to 5.4 billion euros under a sectoral plan.

More detailed information on the results published by the FSMA here.

In addition, a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives concerning the second pension pilar. The first objective of the bill is to provide more transparent information obligations to insurance companies, as it already exists for IRPs (Institutions de Retraite Professionnelles). More qualitative and transparent information for citizens to increase trust is a second objective. Lastly, administrative simplification is intended.

The introduction of this law would be staggered.

 

Assuralia issued new guidelines

Concerning insurance contracts, Assuralia and the professional unions of medical experts issued guidelines for insurers and medical experts in order to ensure transparency and empathy during a patient medical expertise.

Medical experts must apply the guidelines before, during and after a medical expertise. Insurers will follow them up with medical experts of their network.

You can find more information on these guidelines here.

 

Regulation on variable premium insurance contracts

Mid-November, the FSMA published a regulation concerning the prohibition of variable premium insurance contracts promoted through the sale of multimedia devices.

The ban results from the fact that some sellers fail to comply with the requirements of these contracts by claiming that the premium is free in the first month, but forget to mention that the premium increases thereafter. Therefore, the authority decided to ban the sale of such contracts through a regulation approved by a royal decree.

 

Brexit: statement for insurance intermediaries

The Financial Services and Markets Authority  published a statement on Belgian insurance brokers working with British brokers.

The statement mentions the Brexit context and its consequences for brokers. Additionally, the institution highlights the prohibition for insurance distributors to work with brokers that are not registered with the Belgian institution.

To know more about this statement, click here.

 

Warning about credit insurance product offerings

The EIOPA also issued a warning to insurers and bancassurers regarding credit insurance product offerings. With this warning, the European regulator would like to ensure that the products have a fair cost/benefit ratio for consumers.

To this end, measures have been taken regarding high commissions charged by insurance distributors and conflicts of interest in bancassurance business models.

You can read the full warning here.

 

Allianz: a top-ranked company

Allianz is a top-ranked company in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands Ranking for the fourth year in a row. The insurer ranks 34th. Its brand image is worth 18,7 billion dollars.

You can find the top 100 here.

 

Axa’s decision concerning wages indexation

The insurance company Axa is not going to index wages above 5 400€. This decision reflects the costs of automatic wage indexation. Els Jans, Director of Personnel at Axa, explained that the amount of 5 400€ is “the upper limit of the wage scales agreed at sectoral level.”

Similarly to other insurance companies, other bonuses, paid in units, are not indexed. In such a situation, the system of units, as well as the indexation limit, do not meet with the unions’ approval. They are therefore considering some actions. However, the insurance joint committee stated that above 5 400€, indexation is not mandatory.

Axa’s decision has a similar effect to an earthquake for the sector.

 

Axa to pay 100 000€ to FSMA

Failing to comply with legal obligations, Axa Belgium is due to 100 000€ to the FSMA.

At stake? Hundreds of insurance distribution acts from SPRL X through the platform of Axa Belgium between 13 April and 25 June 2019, despite the fact that SPRL X was no longer registered with the FSMA as an insurance intermediary since 9 April 2019.

Axa does not collaborate with SPRL X since 4 April 2019. Following this, producer accounts and producer mandates should have been blocked. But, due to human error, this was not the case.  As a result, the FSMA considered it a fail to comply with legal obligations.

 

Some insurance premiums undervalued

For the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium, the conclusion is clear: some non-life insurance premiums are undervalued by 8%, due to inflation.

As a result, the pricing of specific branches of insurance will be adjusted upwards. Home insurance has already been adjusted, as it is based on the Abex index. By contrast, car insurance premiums are likely to be raised, which is already the case at Belfius Insurance.

Other players in the sector such as Ethias, Axa or AG Insurance are wondering. For some of them, an increase in insurance premiums could occur for damage and legal protection insurance.

 

Amendments on CABRIO app

This month, the FSMA is making a number of changes on the CABRIO application for intermediaries and lenders.

A first modification is the settlement of the automatic processing of a company change of address. Moreover, insurance and reinsurance brokers, as well as banking and investment intermediaries are not committed to mention each of their Belgian offices to the FSMA. The Crossroads Bank for Enterprises already provides them.

In addition, the FSMA has also published shorter model questionnaires for candidates and shareholders, as well as shorter model mandates. Some questions have been clarified too.

Finally, requests for simple amendments for which no documentation is required will be processed more quickly within the application.

 

Financial results

For the insurance group Ageas, the net income totals 567 million euros. In Belgium, the profits amount to 89 million euros.

On the life hand, Belgian receipts fell by 3% due to a decrease in volume of savings products. On the non-life hand, Belgian receipts increased by 4% thanks to the home and car insurance segments. To learn more on Ageas’ results, check this link.

Additionally, Ageas’ main shareholder Fosun, a Chinese company, stated not to trade its share. In second position of Ageas’ shareholders comes the Société Fédérale de Participations et d’Investissement (SFPI-FPIM).

Besides information on its financial results, S&P Global Ratings gave Ageas and its subsidiaries AG Insurance and Ageas Insurance Ltd. a A+ score. This score is equivalent to “a long-term issuer credit and insurer financial strength”. This definition highlights the resilience of the Group’s profits and capitalisation to the current market situation.

Concerning Allianz Benelux, the total premium income is 2,645 million euros, a decrease of 4,6% compared to last year. On the non-life hand, premiums are equivalent to 1,625 million euros and on the life hand, to 1,380 million euros.

The operating result is 284,0 million euros. More specifically, on the life hand, it amounts to 139,6 million euros, thanks to an increase in the Belgian investment margins. On the non-life hand, it amounts to 144,4 million euros, which partly results from a reinsurance transaction. More information on Allianz Benelux results here.

Similarly to Allianz and Ageas, KBC published its third quarter results. As stated by the latter, the technical income coming from the non-life insurance activities amounts to 232 million euros. The high non-life technical income is due to an increase in premiums income of 8% and a decrease of 15% in technical charge. Similarly, the earned premiums increased by 4%. The combined ratio is of 86%, compared to 89% last year. Check the press release of KBC to learn more on these results.

 

Legislation

Appeal from Assuralia rejected by the Constitutional Court

Regarding the tax on securities accounts we previously discussed, the Constitutional Court dismisses the appeal lodged by Assuralia. The latter, together with 6 other parts, previously called for the (partial) cancellation of this tax.

In this context, the Court highlights its two main objectives regarding the introduction of the tax. Firstly, the Constitutional Court wants to remove the anti-abuse provision related to the division of a security account in several ones within a same intermediate. Secondly, the Court withdraws the retroactive effect of the general anti-abuse provision regarding the period before the law came into effect.

 

Royal decree concerning civil liability insurance for real estate agents

The obligation of real estate agents to insure their civil liability has been revised by a royal decree which replaces the deontological directive of 14 September 2006. The decree contains a number of changes.

Basic principles do not change. However, for insurance companies, the deadline to send the list of real estate agents to the IPI, Institut Professionnel des agents immobiliers, has changed: the due date is 31 March. In addition, the IPI can now sign a collective or individual insurance contract for its members.

The royal decree came into force on 24 November 2022.

 

Law concerning the right to be forgotten

New changes occurred concerning the right to be forgotten that we already discussed here. Insurance companies, that are members of Assuralia, are subject to a stringent code of conduct which extends the right to be forgotten to guaranteed income insurances. However, insurers which are not members of Assuralia are not yet committed to this code of conduct. Following the government’s decision, non-affiliated insurers will now have to follow this code of conduct too.

As from 1 January 2023, the deadline for the right to be forgotten will be reduced to five years.

This law came into force on 27 November 2022.

 

Sources:

Assuropolis, La sur les comptes-titres: la Cour Constitutionnelle rejette le recours d’Assuralia

L’Echo, Les bénéfices d’Ageas touchés par l’inflation, mais la croissance se poursuit

L’Echo, La Chine plombe Ageas et ce n’est peut-être pas fini

Assuropolis, Ageas publie ses résultats pour les neufs premiers mois 2022

Assuropolis, le Fosun n’envisage pas de vendre sa participation dans Ageas

Assuropolis, Allianz à nouveau assureur numéro 1 dans le Best Global Brands Ranking d’Interbrand

Assuropolis, Sigura et Cobra sauvés de la faillite, la reprise est terminée

Assuropolis, Renault se lance dans l’assurance automobile en Europe

L’Argus dans l’assurance, Assurance auto : Renault repart à la conquête de nouveaux clients

Assuropolis, Allianz Benelux : résultats au cours des trois premiers trimestres 2022

Assuropolis, FSMA : règlement transactionnel de 100.000 euros avec AXA Belgium

Assuropolis, KBC: résultats de l’assurance au troisième trimestre

Assuropolis, FSMA : deuxième pilier de pension en images – aperçu 2022

Assuropolis, Modifications attendues de la loi sur les pensions complémentaires

Assuropolis, Un règlement de la FSMA interdit certains contrats d’assurance multimédia

L’Echo, Chez AXA, les salaires élevés ne seront que partiellement indexés

L’Echo, Quand Axa brise le tabou de l’indexation des salaires

Assuropolis, Les patients peuvent compter sur un cadre clair et transparent en cas d’expertise médicale

L’Echo, Les primes d’assurance sont sous-estimées de 8%

Assuropolis, ING : La confiance des investisseurs belges à un niveau historiquement bas

ING, Baromètre ING des investisseurs : La confiance des investisseurs belges à un niveau historiquement bas

Assuropolis, Assurance en responsabilité civile des agents immobiliers : un arrêté royal remplace la directive déontologique de l’IPI

L’Echo, AG et BNP Paribas Fortis rachètent Touring

Assuropolis, FSMA : Warning Bancassurance EIOPA

Assuropolis, Brexit : feedback statement pour les intermédiaires d’assurances

Assuropolis, S&P confirme les notations “A+” d’Ageas, avec perspectives stables

Assuropolis, Moins d’administration pour les intermédiaires et les prêteurs

Assuropolis, AG assure le premier véhicule autonome sur la voie publique en Belgique 

Appointments – November 2022

Who are the most recent appointments as directors and C-levels in Belux? 

Karel Tanghe

Karel Tanghe, has been appointed new Chief Financial Officer of AG. He will replace Wim Guilliams.

Subject to approval by the National Bank of Belgium, he will take office on 1 January 2023, succeeding to Wim Guilliams who will be evolving as Ageas Group’s CFO as of 1 June 2023.

Karel Tanghe has a thorough knowledge of the insurance, financial institutions, health insurance and pension fund sector, both at local and international level. He holds a master’s degree in Economics, Leadership and an MBA from Vlerick Business School.

Karel worked over twenty years at KPMG and occupied diverse positions such as Head of Audit, Managing Director and member of the management team since 2016.

As for Wim Guilliams, he has been working at AG since 2015 and has managed AG’s finances for 7 years with passion and expertise, including the implementation of the revised IFRS 17 accounting standard.

 

Fichier:ERGO Kindlustusgrupi logo.svg — Wikipédia

Dieter Bardyn - Chief Risk Officer - ERGO INSURANCE (Belgium) | LinkedIn

Dieter Bardyn

After more than 7 years as Manager Financial and Insurance Risk Management at NN Belgium, Dieter Bardyn has just been appointed new Chief Risk Officer of Ergo. 

 

 

 

 

DKV formulaire en ligne – CDSCA – OCASC

Ruth Verstraete

Ruth Verstraete

Dennis van Giezen - Risk Manager - DKV Belgium | LinkedIn

Dennis van Giezen

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a long career of 19 years at DKV Belgium, Ruth Verstraete has been appointed CEO of DKV. Dennis Van Giezen is replacing her as Chief Risk Officer of the company.

 

 

 

 

Source:

Cyber insurance : why does it scare away insurers?

Is cyber risk one of the greatest enemies of insurers? In any case, this is the conclusion drawn by the World Economic Forum of Davos and by France Assureurs, a professional representative organisation for insurance companies in France, and this is not unfounded: in 2021, about 1 000 Belgian companies and one French company out of two have already been victims of cyber attacks. Despite this observation, the situation on the market may become even more severe: from a car insurance perspective, the self-driving car and the connected car can both have a serious impact on the latter, and, in a more futuristic and global approach, the scope of the metaverse too.

Cyber insurance : how far have we come?

While the cyber insurance market was established in the 2000s across the Atlantic, on the European market and more specifically in France and in Belgium, this market is struggling to get its bearings.

In Belgium and in France, the availability of this type contract for professionals has been around for five years. The few current clients are mostly among the leading multinationals and, to a lesser extent, among small- and medium-sized companies, as well as some target independent companies. From the insurers’ side, few of them offer a cyber insurance cover. Additionally, Wallonia offers fewer such contracts than elsewhere in Belgium. On these markets, the cyber risk cover comes in two forms: the cover is either embedded in a civil liability insurance or legal protection, or it stands in a unique insurance policy.

On the French professional indemnity market, a total of 185 million euros for cyber premiums has been paid in 2021 (Source: AMRAE). However, we learn from AMRAE’s Lucy 2022 report that cyber insurance contracts do not meet the larger companies’ expectations, in particular due to the high insurance coverages. Therefore, even if this market is driven by the few large companies that are currently clients, those that are not yet clients would rather insure themselves alone or in groups of mutual insurance companies, as we will discuss below.

 

“Cyber insurance contracts do not meet the larger companies’ expectations, in particular due to the high insurance coverages.”

 

 

As far as the specific features of cyber insurance policies are concerned, various clauses may be included. An opt-out clause for losses arising from an attack that results in a disaster effect for the targeted state should be mentioned. If the contract does not have an exclusion clause for such conflicts, clauses excluding losses from war are also mentioned. Nevertheless, as pointed out by the Direction du Trésor, the implementation and efficiency of such clauses are not necessarily clear. This is the case when the term ‘cyber war’ is not clearly defined in law. The policyholder’s claim cannot be clearly defined also if the origin of the attack cannot be determined.

Threats of a cyber attack

The forms of cyber attacks are more and more diversified. Among them, we can find malwares and ransomwares, as well as identity theft. Furthermore, for a greater impact on the company’s image or finances, identity theft is the attackers’ best weapon.

Cyber attacks’ threats are numerous and cause substantial damage to a company: costs related to the immediate consequences of the incident, whether it be the management of the incident or the financial losses of the company, property damage and the company’s civil liability. In addition, business interruption and operational loss are the main risks. As a result, cyber risk is considered an operational risk by many insurers.

Another worrying threat for companies and consequently for insurers is the payment of a ransom of up to 500.000€. However, in France, the issue of ransom payment is currently being discussed, particularly because an insurance policy that includes a clause in favour of ransom payment is seen as encouraging cybercriminals to commit such acts. The French Ministry of the Economy recently published a report clarifying the right of policyholders to ask the insurer to pay the ransom, but this is not an obligation on the insurer. In light of this situation, it is advisable as an insurer to support its policyholders as much as possible in the event of a cyber attack, without paying the cyber ransom.

Why is this market developing slowly?

Whether in Belgium or in France, insurers are mistrustful because there is very little statistical data on the cyber risk and its rapid evolution does not allow for an obvious adaptation, especially in an environment that is still very unfamiliar and difficult to control.

Assessing financial risk is a barrier for insurers, particularly because of the lack of data. In France, one of the reasons for the poor development of this market is due to the balance between the value of premiums and the value of calculated damage: in 2020, indeed, French insurance companies collected 217 million euros in damage and 126 million euros in premiums (source: AMRAE), which causes a shortfall for them. The cost of damage for a victim company is particularly difficult to quantify for two reasons. The first one is the interdependence of our society’s information systems, which is at the origin of accumulation phenomena, as Olivier Lopez, Director of the Institute of Statistics at the University of Paris, explains in this interview. The second is the black number, i.e. the gap between known and actual acts of cyber attack which stems from the victims’ fear of the consequences for their reputation.

It is also very difficult to predict the damage of this type of attack, mainly because an attack can have several targets: even if it remains unusual, it can happen in an attack against several states. Moreover, despite the infrequency of this particular case, this possible attack aimed at different targets simultaneously is frightening for insurers. As a result, and due to the increasing number of attacks, insurance premiums are high, whereas the offer is already not very developed. As a result, the cyber insurance market cannot evolve. In addition, insurance companies are cautious in their choice of customer profiles because they are concerned about their solvency, because of a lack of knowledge about cyber insurance products, and an underestimation of the importance of cyber-attacks, especially for SMEs.

 

“The legal framework of cyber insurance contracts is not clear enough whether for insurers or policyholders.”

 

 

The market’s own structure prevents its correct development as well. The legal framework of cyber insurance contracts is not clear enough whether for insurers or policyholders, given that implicit guarantees and ‘silent’ covers exist. The latter means that cyber risks are covered by property insurance contracts, but of which policyholders and insurance companies are not aware. From the policyholder’s point of view, this cover can be beneficial as it is included in this type of policy. However, as they are not informed of its coverage, they do not activate it and the cover is not considered in the calculation of the premium. For insurance companies, this practice is dangerous, especially as the latter may be confronted with an unforeseen risk if he does not include the real consequence of the risk in the calculation of the premium. As a result, the coverage of insurance contracts is not always clear to the policyholder, so fewer policies are taken out. Moreover, the imprecision of the “silent” cover can negatively impact the solvency of the insurer. In this respect, following the publication of EIOPA, the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) strongly encourages insurers to “examine all the guarantees given in their contracts with regard to cyber risks and, where appropriate, to clarify and make more explicit the wording of the terms and conditions of policies with regard to the coverage or exclusion of these risks, to provide an ambiguity-free offer to policyholders”.

As mentioned above, the ransom impacts the market’s development, because some contracts cover the ransom, while others do not. This insurance cover can have an undesirable effect: the rise of cyber attacks. However, the insurers’ federation Assuralia states that this guarantee is an advantage for policyholders and should not cause them any fear: by being covered against ransom, insured companies benefit from the help of experts who can decrypt these ransom demands and can enlighten the customer about them.

Lastly, whether or not insurance companies, that are victims of a cyber attack, are covered against administrative sanctions, for example in the event of failure to notify a data breach, is a matter of concern for companies that might wish to take out such policies. In that specific case, it may be covered by the insurer, as opposed to the criminal fine. In addition, some insurance contracts may include compensation concerning costs related to the implementation of a crisis communication plan by the victim company.

Step by step, the efforts continue…

Despite the current geopolitical situation, measures in the insurance market are being taken to develop even more cyber insurance policies. In France, the Ministry of Economy proposes to set up a working group to define what constitutes cyber war in order to establish possible legal exclusions to contracts. Moreover, the ACPR and France Assureurs will study the market’s main clauses to improve the level of information of policyholders. They have the ambition to create a cyber attack observatory to solve the data shortage. In Belgium, Assuralia believes that a collaboration between the private sector and insurers could foster the development of this market, with the help of the Center of Cyber Security whose main missions are to raise public awareness and help victims.

At the European level, EIOPA believes that the creation of a European cyber attack reporting database based on a common taxonomy can enable the insurance industry to improve its assessments and data collection so that these types of risks can be properly measured, monitored and managed.

In any case, if insurers do not keep up, some companies (Airbus, Veolia and Adeao) have foreseen a future disaster by creating a mutual insurance company on the Belgian territory, Miris Insurance, to cover the risk of cyber attacks. It is still awaiting approval from the Belgian regulator, but it should be operational before January 1st 2023.

This statement by large groups highlights the management of cyber insurance by insurers. It is clear that it is essential that insurance companies take up this challenge more clearly because they run the risk that other stakeholders, such as Miris, will become essential in this market. Finally, mutual insurance companies like Miris could develop and offer competitive and possibly more attractive insurance products.

The issue of cyber insurance is therefore a key issue to be addressed by insurance companies, as this would put the latter at a disadvantage in the insurance market.

Sources :

Keeping Up With The Market – October 2022

Every month we help you keep up with the Belgian insurance market.

Acquisitions

 

AG Insurance and Ethias, together with EthiasCo and Société Fédérale de Participations et Investissement (SFPI), will buy out 4,6% of Fluxys’ shares in the Canadian group CDPQ, after approval of Publigaz and EIP, other shareholders.

The buyout aims at achieving two objectives:

  • Supporting Fluxys’ strategy to develop its hydrogen and CO2 transmission infrastructure from 2025 onwards. This will contribute to developing the transition to renewable energy sources and a carbon-neutral society by 2050.
  • Strengthening the Belgian anchoring of a crucial infrastructure for the country.

 

Home | Athora

Earlier this month, Athora Belgium finalised the acquisition of a life insurance closed-book portfolio from NN Insurance Belgium. The portfolio includes 200.000 contracts.

Athora counts more than 3 million clients, has 96 billion in pro forma consolidated assets under management, and over 2 000 employees. The life insurance company operates in 5 European countries and is known for its transactional findings.

 

 

Partnerships

       

Axa Belgium and GoodPlanet Belgium join forces to develop hundreds of climate workshops for 2nd and 3rd cycle secondary students in Brussels, Liège and Antwerp. The objective is to raise awareness of young people so that they become aware of possible individual and collective solutions.

The two partners did their first ‘Climate School Workshop’ on 14th October.

 

  

Ethias and Belfius Insurance join together with Eiffage Luxembourg, a construction group, to create a common land investment platform called LIVe.

LIVe stands for Land Investment Vehicle and this project is a first in Belgium. The process between the three partners is as follows: once the three shareholders have validated the acquisition, Eiffage will take over the reins, and the risk, of carrying out and marketing the residential and sustainable real estate development projects.

Belfius Insurance explained that the company does not take the investment risk and highlighted the opportunity ‘to have highly complementary exposure and liability in terms of risk diversification.’

The common project LIVe has an overall investment capacity of around 178 million euros to acquire properties fairly quickly in the three regions of the country.

 

 

Market

 

 

 

In recent years, the medium cost of home insurance has increased twice as fast as the health index, according to the Price Observatory. The reason for such an increase lies partly in the profitability of insurers. Therefore, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Minister of the Economy, wants to reduce the home insurance cost.

In an article published on the website of the French-speaking Socialist Party of Belgium, Pierre-Yves Dermagne explains that the adjustment of the ABEX index and the coverage for natural disasters partly explain the increase in the home insurance premium. However, according to him, the primary reason is due to the insurers’ margins and prices. Therefore, he wants to reduce them to offer fair prices for households.

According to Assuralia, the average profitability of home insurance increased from 4.4% to 18% between 2014 and 2021.

Moreover, the Federal Public Service of Finance declared that the tax on securities accounts, including a 0.15% levy on securities accounts over €1 million, will be extended to Belgian accounts of Luxembourg insurers.

This change results from a recent case law of the Court of Cassation and will have consequences for contracts in the Branch 23. Following this, the work of the financial institutions liable for the tax will be more complicated, as time is short for Belgian financial institutions to carry out required reporting and payments. If they do not have enough time, Luxembourg companies will have to pay the tax themselves.

On 5th October, the parliamentary committee on the economy unanimously approved the bill of MPs Robby De Caluwé (Open Vld) and Kathleen Verhelst (Open Vld) that will allow the right to be forgotten in guaranteed income insurance.

However, the political party N-VA wants this right to be extended to all insurances. Moreover, this party wants to remove the obligation to declare in insurance policies. The party’s members find it contradictory to the very essence of the right to be forgotten.

 

The valuation of the assets and liabilities of Integrale, acquired by Monument Re in early January, has been discussed by bondholders and shareholders of the company.

Earlier this month, the liquidator of Integrale, lawyer Nicholas Ouchinsky (Lexlitis), announced that he would appoint a panel of experts consisting of an auditor and an actuary to draw up an independent report on the accounting valuation of the various assets and liabilities of Integrale during the financial years 2019, 2020 and 2021 as well as on the continuity of the valuation of these assets and liabilities upon the transfer of the assets of Integrale to Monument Re.

After careful observations, this valuation was approved for the period 1 January to 17 December 2021 and 18 December to 31 December 2021.

 

 

Mid-October, Ethias stated having signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Insurance (UNPSI). The insurance company has previously joined UN Global Compact in 2014 and UN PRI in 2020.

Launched in 2012, these principles serve as a global framework for the insurance industry to address environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities.

By being engaged with these principles, Ethias is committed to reducing risks, developing innovative solutions, improving business performance and contributing to environmental, social and economic sustainability. This decision strengthens her ESG strategy, which is part of the objectives of the UNPSI.

More concretely, these objectives consist of:

  • Integrating ESG issues relevant to the insurance business into decision-making.
  • Raising awareness of ESG issues among clients and partners and encouraging them to better manage risks and develop concrete solutions.
  • Promoting global action on ESG issues within society through cooperation and dialogue with governments, regulators and other stakeholders.
  • Reporting on the implementation of the Principles and publishing their progress in a transparent manner.

 

 

Deloitte Belgium aims to recruit 1 700 new employees by 31st May. Already 6 000 people are part of the Deloitte adventure.

These recruitments are part of two objectives: to assert its role as a trainer and to support the growth of its activities. Therefore, the consulting company wants to diversify the skills of its employees.

 

 

Axa recently published her Future Risk Report 2022 and the conclusion is clear: climate risk is the greatest risk worldwide according to experts.

The Future Risk Report measures and ranks changes in the perception of emerging risks. Risk classification stems from the answers of 4 500 experts from 58 countries and a sample of 20 000 people representative of the population of 15 countries. The report is produced in collaboration with the research institute IPSOS and the geopolitical analysis consultancy Eurasia Group.

In the report’s classification, geopolitical risks come in the second position, followed by cyber risk. Energy-related risks are fourfold. Especially because of the current situation, three financial risks including financial instability, macroeconomic deterioration and monetary and fiscal tension are in the classification’s top 10.

 

 

The European Federation of Insurers and Reinsurers, Insurance Europe, issued two opinions on the following topics:

  • The European law aimed at creating a single European market for data and giving individuals and businesses more control over their data.
  • The European Commission’s proposal to extend the validity of the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation by five years.

Insurance Europe approves these two propositions. Concerning the European law, the federation explained that it will allow insurance companies to develop innovative numerical services while being beneficial for consumers.

 

 

 
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DECAVI’s Life Insurance Trophies 2022

Last wednesday, the 23rd edition of the DECAVI’s Life Insurance Trophies was held in Brussels. Known as the Oscars of our industries, these awards aim, through in-depth analysis by a jury of specialists, to reward the best life products, and thus contribute to ensuring market transparency. 

The jury of this 2022 edition was composed of :

  • Pierre Devolder, UCL Professor, President of the jury
  • Laurent Feiner, Journalist, CEO, Decavi
  • Philippe Muys, Honorary President, Feprabel
  • Albert Verlinden, President, BZB-Fedafin
  • Marc Willame, Associate, Ensur
  • Erik Van Camp, Qualified member, IA|BE
  • Sandra Lodewijckx, Partner Lydian

This jury verified the performance and quality of all the contracts in competition on the basis of their profitability, insurance characteristics and innovation.

 

And the winners are…

 

Private Pension awards

      

Br23 awards

 

Independent pension awards

  • Private Supplementary Pension Scheme for the Self-Employed: AG (PLCI)

 

 

Risks awards

 

Innovation award (Services, claims management, products, …)

Digital

 

Social responsability  

  • AG
  • Ethias

 

Prevention

  • AXA Belgium

 

Sustainable investment

  • Belfius Insurance

 

Brokerage

  • AG

 

➡️ Check out the detailed presentation of each product