06/07/2022 – In accident insurance, Bafin processed 147 complaints in 2021, around a seventh fewer than in the previous year. On average, there were around 0.2 complaints per 100,000 insured risks. The fire partnership had the highest rate of complaints (nearly nine complaints per 100,000 insured risks). Most of the market sizes performed better than the industry average.
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Die Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) processed 147 complaints about German liability insurers last year. This can be found in the authority’s company-specific complaint statistics, which the supervisory authority published in mid-May.
The current number of complaints is the lowest in the past 14 years after a drop of around one seventh. The peak was in 2008. At the time, the supervisory authority had finally processed five times as many complaints as is currently the case (VersicherungsJournal April 23, 2009).
This means that the number of complaints has fallen in the accident insurance line, as in household (May 25, 2022), liability (May 17, 2022), life (May 10, 2022) and motor vehicle insurance (May 4, 2022). In contrast, it has risen in residential building insurance (May 31, 2022) and in private health insurance (private health insurance; May 3, 2022).
Very low complaint rate in accidents
At around 0.2 complaints per 100,000 insured risks, the complaints rate remains extremely low. It results from the complaints in relation to the portfolio of insured risks of around 76.1 million at the end of 2020.
Even if you still have the 486 allowable complaints when insurance ombudsman (May 18, 2022) does not change anything. Because even then, around 99,999 out of 100,000 contracts remained symptom-free.
The accident insurers with the highest rates
A total of 46 (2020: 43) accident insurers are listed in the complaint statistics. Among the companies listed with a contract portfolio of more than 68,000, values of over 1.5 complaints per 100,000 insured risks are calculated for a total of six providers.
The highest rate, with almost nine complaints per 100,000 insured risks, is for the company, which is very small in this segment with a policy portfolio of just under 69,000 Fire partnership Berlin Brandenburg Versicherung AG to book.
They are followed by the complaint rates of around 2.7 each Adler Insurance Ltd (three entries for a stock of almost 110,000) and the Inter General Insurance Ltd (two complaints for around 75,000 risks).
Values of around 1.7 are calculated for the BA the Bayerische Allgemeine Versicherung AG (two complaints for a good 111,000 insured risks), the Janitos Insurance Ltd (three at about 170,000) and the Stuttgart Insurance Company (nine at around 535,000).
This is how the industry giants fought
Of the eleven largest companies (more than one million insured risks), six providers performed better than the industry average. Five of these had complaint rates of less than 0.1 complaints per 100,000 insured risks.
This group includes the Regional Fire Fund Hanover (VGH; a complaint with a stock of over 4.9 million), the Provincial Insurance Ltd (one at just under 2.7 million), the R+V General Insurance Ltd (one at just under 1.4 million), the ADAC Insurance Ltd (six out of almost 7.9 million) and the Signal Iduna General Insurance Ltd (one in about a million).
They are just below or above the industry average Huk-Coburg liability support fund for driving officials in Germany aG (two complaints at 1.1 million) and the Generali Deutschland Versicherung AG (eight complaints out of almost 3.6 million).
They acted somewhat worse than the market Bavarian Insurance Association Versicherungs-AG (eight complaints out of about 1.1 million), the Allianz Versicherungs-AG (14 at about 4.4 million), the Debeka General Insurance Ltd (seven out of nearly two million) and the Ergo Versicherung AG (eight out of almost 1.6 million).
Disadvantage for high-growth insurers
For around a quarter of a century, the Bafin has published annual complaint statistics broken down by insurance company and branch. According to the information, this represents a snapshot that can be influenced by various events. For example, insurers without complaints are not listed at all.
According to the regulator, the figures are intended to provide “an indicator of the quality and size of the insurance business”. However, the authority points out the limited significance of the statistics on the quality of individual companies. Because the data does not provide a statement as to whether the processed complaints were justified or not.
In addition, the number of complaints finally processed by Bafin over the course of a year is compared to the insured risks at the end of the previous year. “Strongly expanding insurers […] are disadvantaged by the naming of the stock figures, because the increased stock over the course of the year, from which the complaints arise, is not reflected in the statistics,” says the reasoning.
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