The new president of IVASS, Fabio Panetta, takes over the insurance companies on contracts and does so in an exceptional venue: that ofAnia, busy today in her annual meeting. Present were the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the President of ANIA, Maria Bianca Farina and the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.
THE WORDS OF PANETTA
"IVASS is not satisfied with the application of the guidelines by Italian insurance companies on the simplification and clarity of contracts", says Panetta who then explains: "In the products examined so far we have noticed that the interventions have led in several cases to a purely formal alignment with the indications of the Guidelines (structure, graphic characters, example boxes), but they were not equally adequate in terms of clarity of language, simplicity of the terms used, elimination of redundancies, references and repetitions”.
Therefore, more clarity is needed in order to establish a relationship of greater awareness with customers. “Even in cases where the audit effort has been more appreciable, a real simplification of the contractual texts cannot be said to have been achieved and product design” Panetta adds that IVASS intends to focus, also with the help of consumer associations and businesses and intermediaries, working towards a substantial improvement in contractual clarity”.
An all-round analysis, also necessary due to the Italian characteristics and the demographic alarm launched by Istat which will make it necessary "a more incisive contribution from private welfare, which improves health guarantees and strengthens the service component, passing from preventive care. Further development of supplementary pensions will also be important, adds Panetta”. For the president of Ivass “These are factors that require a different way of 'making insurance products'. Putting the needs and expectations of customers at the center means diversify the offer by designing products tailored to the specific needs of citizens: needs for savings and investment, but also for protection".
ANIA DATA
The Association that brings together insurance companies also provided the main results obtained in 2018. In detail, last year the average motor liability premium amounted to 414 euros, unchanged from 2017. However, compared to 2012, underlines ANIA, the premium has dropped by 25%territorial distances were reduced by 40% and the difference with the average premium of the main European countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) also decreased sharply, from 213 to 72 euros.
The results of the motor liability sector show "very positive trends due to the strong competition between companies, the growing presence of telematics, where Italy is in first place in the world, and the decrease in fraud, however still too widespread”, underlines the association. On the subject of fraud, the president, Maria Bianca Farina, then underlined that ANIA "has promoted an Observatory which, with the support of its associates and also thanks to the contribution of all the institutions responsible for the prevention and repression of the phenomenon, should guarantee results such as to translate into significant benefits on the prices of the entire user”.
As for insurance, in 2018, Italian insurance companies collected premiums of 135 billion euros, improving their performance by 3,2% compared to 2017.
La greater thrust came from life sector, which collected 102 billion euros (+3,5%). The non-life business also did well with 33 billion (+2,3%). To these premiums must be added those collected by European companies operating in Italy, equal to 13 billion in life and 5 billion in damages.
As regards the other financial parameters, investments Italian insurers have exceeded 840 billion euros, equal to almost 50% of GDP, but bad news is coming on the front profits, down 30% compared to 2017 to 4 billion euros. “The decline – explains Ania – essentially concerned the life sector, following the value adjustments recorded on the securities”.
THE FLOUR APPEAL
Maria Bianca Farina, president of ANIA, launches an appeal to the institutions: “A pragmatic statesman like Winston Churchill maintained that courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, but also what it takes to sit down and listen. To the world of politics we therefore ask for a comparison with the rest of society: entrepreneurs, trade unions and organizations which in various capacities represent vital parts of the country's development and cohesion".
Farina then underlined the fundamental role played by insurance companies in guaranteeing the stability of Italian public finances. Italian insurance companies guarantee “a still significant support to our public debt“. "THE Italian government bonds – concludes Farina – are close to 40% approximately of total insurance investments and represent 15% of the entire outstanding stock”.
