Optimisation of motor insurance

VIG continues to see further potential for reducing the combined ratio in the motor business. In particular, it aims to reduce expenses of foreign claims. This particularly concerns trucks, as they travel internationally more often than passenger cars and create higher expenses if a claim occurs. VIG established a central foreign claims team for this purpose in 2017. Previously, claims of this type were mainly handled by local partners. “Providing central support moves us closer to the claims and allows us to realise potential cost savings”, stated Jürgen Palmberger, Head of Performance management motor vehicle insurance at VIG. Among other things, contracts with external loss adjustors are being harmonised and their terms and conditions improved. The truck portfolio was also reduced by around 10% in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania and the Baltic states in 2017. The reason is that if a truck is insured in a country with a low price level, then the premium is also correspondingly low. When a loss then occurs in a country with a high price level, expenses for the repairs are inordinately high.