Hong Kong insurance industry suffers setback in the first half

The total amount of claims and benefits payouts made to policyholders decreased by 1.4% to HK$148.8 billion. During the same period, new office premiums (excluding retirement scheme business) increased by 1.7% to HK$81.9 billion.

Following a plunge due to COVID-19 restrictions, income from Mainland Chinese visitors showed recovery, increasing 150% to HK$540 million. This represented 0.7% of the total for individual businesses. Critical illness, whole life and medical insurance accounted for 32%, 32% and 26% of the policies, respectively.

Compared to the long-term segment, Hong Kong’s general insurance segment fared a bit better, with gross premiums at HK$35.2 billion (up 5.5%) and net premiums at HK$22.5 billion (up 1.7%). Total gross claims payment was at HK$13.7 billion, an 8.1% decrease, while overall underwriting profit surged 220.5% to HK$2.545 billion from HK$794 million in the first half of 2021.

The general liability (including employees’ compensation) business grew 10.3%, while accident & health and property grew by 3.5% and 6.2%, respectively. This was attributed by the IA to hardening of rates and new business, which were partially offset by the pecuniary loss business, where gross premiums declined by 4.1% due to decreased loan drawdowns under the Mortgage Insurance Programme.

Direct business’ underwriting profit grew 134% to HK$1.77 billion, with the net claims incurred ratio dropping from 59.8% to 55.1% due to the positive experience recorded by the general liability, marine and pecuniary loss businesses. Meanwhile, the underwriting profit of accident and health business dropped from HK$291 million to HK$191 million due to claims reserves for medical insurance returning to pre-pandemic levels.