The past year was not a good one for German insurance companies – storm “Bernd” and the flood disaster on the Ahr and in other parts of the country triggered a flood of insurance claims. In property and casualty insurance, companies were therefore in the red. The life insurers, on the other hand, got off lightly, surprisingly also because of the business with the Riester pension, which has long been politically sidelined. This was announced by the General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV) on Thursday (January 27) when the industry figures for 2021 were presented.
New Riester business developed surprisingly well, although the products only generate meager returns due to the low interest rates in connection with the state requirements for a full guarantee: the insurance industry was able to conclude 310,500 new contracts (+12%). However, the total number of contracts fell due to terminations, although the attrition did not lead to a significant reduction in the number of contracts. The GDV still reports around 10.4 million Riester pensions. The number of new basic or Rürup pensions, on the other hand, rose by almost 40 percent to almost 119,000 contracts. As a result, the total portfolio increased by four percent to 2.5 million contracts.
GDV drums for subsidized private old-age provision
“Our conclusion: In view of the ongoing political debate about reforms to private old-age provision, many have secured a contract,” comments GDV President Wolfgang Weiler on this development, followed by a demand: “The federal government should create the conditions for it to be There will still be subsidized private old-age provision in the future. Many people who cannot benefit so much from purely tax-related subsidies depend on this.”
The association also presented summarized figures: the premium income of life insurers, pension funds and pension funds amounted to around 102 billion euros in 2021, which corresponds to a minus of 1.4 percent compared to 2020. The association attributes this development to a drop of 4.7 percent to 36.5 billion euros in single-premium business. However, this had reached a record level in 2020. Current premium income, on the other hand, increased slightly to 65.3 billion euros. But: The premium income calculated for one year according to APE (Annual Premium Equivalent), the sum of regular premiums plus ten percent of single premiums, new business from life insurers, pension funds and pension funds increased by 2.6 percent to 9.9 billion euros. (jb)
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