The motor branch of the Algerian insurance sector is in serious crisis, struggling to compensate policyholders in a timely manner, while the number of road accidents continues to increase.
Data from the National Insurance Council showed that motor claims payable stood at around DZD39.1bn ($285.2m) as of 30 June 2021, according to a report by the information website TSA Algeria. It was marginally lower than the DZD39.7bn outstanding 12 months previously.
In comparison, unpaid claims in all branches of insurance combined fell by 6.1% to DZD87.2bn as of 30 June 2021, against DZD92.8bn as of 30 June 2020.
Among the reasons for the current situation is rampant price cutting in motor insurance, with no limits imposed on discounts granted to customers. To remedy this, 12 Algerian insurance companies have signed an agreement to cap discounts at 50% in the automotive sector. The insurers are 2A, Alliance Assurances, AXA, CAAR, CAAT, CASH, CIAR, CNMA, GAM, SAA, Salama and Trust.
The agreement was announced on 20 October by the Union of Algerian Insurers and Reinsurers (UAR) in a statement.
The multilateral agreement has been approved by the regulatory body of the insurance sector, that is the Insurance Supervision Commission under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance, said the UAR. The pact will take effect from 1 January 2022.
According to the UAR, the agreement will make it possible to “better organise the market and put an end to the practice of ‘unlimited reductions’ that result in technical and financial imbalances and weaken the ability of insurers to honour the commitments made to their policyholders, in particular, in terms of processing time and reimbursement levels for claims”. M