The Insurance and Social Welfare Supervisory Authority (ACAPS) has announced a major new project: a compulsory multi-risk home insurance scheme, designed to protect property and people against disasters, which are still insufficiently covered at present.
Mr Abderrahim Chaffai, ACAPS president, said this at the 9th Annual Meeting of the National Federation of Insurance Agents and Brokers of Morocco (FNACAM) in Casablanca last week, according to local media reports.
The move behind making home insurance compulsory illustrates the growth potential of the Moroccan insurance market. Home insurance remains undersubscribed despite the significant risks that prevail that affect homes.
Mr Chaffai said that the compulsory insurance system remains heterogeneous and unevenly applied. Coordinated action is needed, he said, to "move from a dispersed framework to a coherent, transparent, and inclusive model".
In this context, a joint study between ACAPS and the Moroccan Insurance Federation has identified two priority development levers:
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strengthening the protection of property, people and capital,
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and improving socio-financial inclusion, in order to make insurance products accessible to as many people as possible.
Today, mandatory insurance represents approximately 33% of total premiums issued and 60% of managed portfolios. For Mr Chaffai, this structural dependence constitutes a barrier to diversification and innovation. Hence the current overhaul of the Insurance Code, which aims to modernise regulation, promote human capital, and promote new digital distribution channels.
Agents and brokers
The FNACAM also intends to place mandatory insurance at the heart of the strategic debate in the industry. The objective is to strengthen the protection of citizens and provide growth drivers for a sector often perceived as underexploited.
Mr Farid Bensaid, FNACAM president, pointed out that Morocco currently has only six mandatory insurance plans, a number well below international standards.
Meanwhile, the planned shift to the widespread implementation of the Mandatory Health Insurance scheme represents a turning point that could profoundly affect the economic balance of the sector, with significant consequences for the revenues of both companies and intermediaries, he said.