SINGAPORE – Motor insurers’ underwriting revenue greater than halved final yr to $49.7 million on the again of upper claims incurred for street accidents.
In its annual assessment, the General Insurance Association (GIA) mentioned on Thursday (March 24) that motor claims rose by 8.3 per cent or $42.1 million, pushed by an increase within the variety of deadly and severe accidents as extra financial actions resumed.
It famous that the variety of deadly street accidents had risen by 25 per cent, from 80 instances in 2020 to 100 instances in 2021. Injury-related street accidents additionally elevated.
“While the number of fatal accidents was still lower than the pre-pandemic total in 2019, GIA urges motorists to continue to stay vigilant and practise good road safety habits,” the affiliation mentioned.
The GIA expects motor claims to extend within the coming yr “as Singapore navigates towards an endemic new normal”.
The motor insurance coverage section – accounting for the most important share of basic insurance coverage at 26 per cent – recorded flat progress in 2021, with $1.15 billion in gross written premiums for the monetary yr – a 2.7 per cent improve from 2020.
With the exception of journey insurance coverage, all different insurance coverage sectors carried out worse than in 2020.
Health incurred an underwriting lack of $5.1 million, from a revenue of $17.9 million beforehand; property dipped to $41.9 million, from $43.7 million; employers’ legal responsibility plunged to $29.9 million, from $41 million; private accident fell to $24.5 million, from $28.1 million; and journey rose to $8.3 million, from $5.2 million.
The GIA mentioned insurers are additionally stepping up efforts to curb insurance coverage fraud instances, which it mentioned had trebled from 2018 to 2020, citing what was revealed in Parliament in January.
The improve was largely from a bounce in fraudulent medical health insurance claims, which rose to 32 reviews in 2020 from 5 in 2018, Law and Home Affairs Minister Ok. Shanmugam had mentioned then.
The GIA added: “Fraudulent activities have also increased further into 2021 and the trend may potentially continue and increase in 2022,” the affiliation mentioned. “With business and social activities resuming to pre-pandemic levels, the sector is also focused on monitoring fraudulent activity in the motor insurance segment and actively continuing to strengthen its processes to combat fraud in the segment.”
An affiliation spokesman mentioned accidents involving taxis and private-hire autos are virtually invariably accompanied by whiplash claims. He mentioned the GIA will proceed to research this development, which is driving up damage claims.
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