Gross insurance premiums grow by 3.1% to OMR357m in the first nine months

Business Saturday 03/December/2016 19:33 PM
By: Times News Service
Gross insurance premiums grow by 3.1% to OMR357m in the first nine months

Muscat: A 3.1 per cent growth in gross insurance premiums was posted by Omani insurance firms in the first nine months of 2016, over the same period of last year.
The gross insurance premiums grew by OMR10.6 million to touch OMR357.2 million compared to OMR346.6 million for the same period of 2015.
The growth in the direct total insurance premiums for the first three quarters of 2016 reflected positively on the net earned premium; the premium income retained by insurance firms after deducting reinsurance premiums. The data points out that the net collected premiums during the third quarter of 2016 grew by 4 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.
Despite fluctuations in insurance premiums for the different insurance products, still the individual life insurance has recorded the biggest growth during the first three quarters of 2016 with 249.4 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent for the liability insurance, 9.4 per cent for health insurance, 7.3 per cent for auto insurance and 2.7 per cent for other insurances. On the other hand, the group life insurance recorded the highest decline with 21.3 per cent followed by engineering insurance, property insurance, transport insurance and comprehensive auto insurance with 16.6 per cent, 12.2 per cent, 7.8 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.
The growth of the individual life insurance has positive reflection on the net earned premiums which grew by 218 per cent. The life insurance business recorded the highest decline compared to other insurance businesses with a fall of 16 per cent. The net premium for property insurance has recorded positive growth compared to the decline in the total premiums during the first three quarters of 2016. The total premiums stood at 12.2 per cent compared to 4 per cent for the net premiums. On the other hand, the other insurance business as part of the net premiums witnessed a decline although it has been positive at the total premium in 2016 as it constituted 2.7 per cent of the total premium and then went down to 4 per cent.
As for the operation results for the insurance companies during three quarters of 2016, the earned premium during the three quarters of 2006 stood at 9 per cent compared to 2015 where the total earned premiums stood at OMR178 million for 2016 compared to OMR163 million at the same period in 2015.
The net commissions by international reinsurers against re insuring part of the local insurance policies with them increased by 24 per cent in 2015. The net compensation paid by the insurance companies increased to OMR124 million; a growth of 18 per cent. The commission and production costs increased by 22 per cent in the third quarter of 2016, compared to the same period in 2015.