Thaivivat Insurance shifts focus
THAIVIVAT INSURANCE is focusing more on non-motor insurance - and especially travel and health policies - in the second half of this year, as it has acknowledged that making money from auto policies is not easy amid weak domestic car sales.
Motor insurance contributes the largest element of the insurer’s portfolio at 77 per cent, and this is unlikely to change this year even though the company is increasing its focus on health and travel, president and chief executive officer Jiraphant Asvatanakul said yesterday.
While the make-up of the government’s new economic team has helped to restore consumer confidence, it may take time for this to result in increased purchasing power, he said.
Thaivivat Insurance has launched a new travel product to tap Thai tourists in the fourth quarter, which is the peak season for tourism.
The government is strongly promoting in-Thailand tourism among Thais, and the company will use this to promote its new policy through travel agents, Jiraphant said.
The premium for group travellers is only Bt25 per customer per trip, for a sum insured of Bt1 million. For individual travellers wishing to travel both domestically and abroad, premiums start at Bt200 per head.
The company has not as yet decided on an income target for travel insurance because since soft-launching the policy for group tours, a non-life insurer has begun to offer lower premiums than Thaivivat Insurance, which might opt to cut its own premiums as a result, Jiraphant explained.
Meanwhile, the company will introduce its new health insurance via United Overseas Bank (Thai) branches, targeting the bank’s customers, and white-collar workers in particular.
Fierce competition in the insurance sector, coupled with a domestic slowdown in auto sales in the first half, has caused Thaivivat Insurance to lower its full-year premium-income projection from growth to flat, said the CEO.
Total premium income last year was Bt3 billion. The insurer reported premium income of Bt1.47 billion for the first six months of this year, and with the outlook for the economy in the latter half not looking particularly bright, second-half income is unlikely to be much higher, he said.
Premiums from motor insurance in the first half dropped by 5 per cent year on year, while those from non-motor insurance expanded by 3 per cent.
Based on the new projection for 2015, motor insurance is expected to contribute Bt2.21 billion in premium income, against Bt2.278 billion last year, while non-motor insurance is forecast to come in at Bt791 million, up from Bt772 million last year.
