From 2022, insurance companies will collect premiums on health insurance in "fresh dollars" only, says the Association of Insurance Companies in Lebanon (ACAL), as the insurance sector has been struggling to cope with the collapse of the Lebanese pound since 2019.
The total gross written premiums of 46 licensed insurance companies in Lebanon reached $928.8m in the first half of 2021, constituting an increase of 12.1% from $828.8m in the same period of 2020, according to figures released by the Insurance Control Commission.
The basis for calculating health insurance premiums and/or coverage of medical expenses in Lebanon has been revised in order to take into account the depreciation of the Lebanese pound in the parallel market.
Vehicle dealers sold 2,678 new passenger cars in the first eight months of 2021, constituting a decline of 44.3% from 4,808 cars sold in the same period of 2020.
Insurers, private hospitals and university hospitals have resumed discussions to try to reach an agreement on new terms for reimbursing the medical expenses of policyholders.
LIA Insurance and Assurex Insurance and Reinsurance have merged, with the enlarged entity adopting the name LIA Assurex.
Of an estimated $1.1bn in insured losses caused by the 4 August 2020 Beirut Port explosion, only about $100m have been paid to date, according to Mr Assaad Mirza, a board member of the Association of Insurance Companies of Lebanon and the chief executive of Capital Insurance & Reinsurance.
Lebanon's insurance companies might see a 20% drop in insurance premiums if they were to start charging their customers in fresh US dollars or according to black market rates, the former president of the Insurance Association Elie Torbey has said.
The Association of Insurance Companies in Lebanon (ACAL) has elected a new board, with Mr Elie Nasnas, general manager of AXA Middle East as chairman of the association and Mr Fateh Bekdache, AROPE Insurance's chairman & CEO as the body's vice chairman.
Some insurance companies struggling to re-assert themselves and the Association of Insurance Companies in Lebanon (ACAL) has begun to strategise how to rebuild the sector's public image, which took a beating last year.