PZU Group’s claims paid and technical provisions

Net claims and benefits (including the movement in technical provisions) reached PLN 14,941 million and were 17.3% more than in the corresponding period of the previous year. The following factors contributed to the increase in the net claims and benefits category:

• higher claims and benefits in motor insurance in the corporate and mass client segments as a result of the development of the insurance portfolio;
• the higher level of the loss ratio in insurance for losses caused by calamities in the mass client and corporate client segments due to the occurrence of an above-average number of claims resulting from weather phenomena (hurricanes, hail storms). Higher level of claims in the corporate client segment in general TPL insurance and fire insurance after several claims with high unit value were reported;
• in life insurance – higher amounts paid by clients to their accounts and significantly improved results of investing activity in the period under analysis for individual unit- linked products in the bancassurance channel and to a lesser extent the same type of group and individual products offered within PZU’s own network (mostly IRAs);
• in protection insurance – an increase in Q1 2017 in the incidence of deaths compared to last year, confirmed by statistics published by the Central Statistical Office [GUS] for the entire population. In the subsequent quarters of 2017, the loss ratios returned to the levels observed in the corresponding period of the previous year;
• non-recurring effect of updating the assumptions as to future disbursements applied to the calculation of provisions recognized in 2016 in the continued insurance class.

On the other hand, the decline in this category of net claims and benefits was caused by the lower level of claims in the group of insurance for other losses to property in the mass client segment, mostly for subsidized crop insurance – in the corresponding period of 2016 there were many losses caused by the forces of nature.