Navakij Insurance cuts income target amid tough competition
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NAVAKIJ Insurance (NKI) plans to cut its target for premium income this year from the Bt3.5 billion hoped for earlier as a result of the fierce competition in the motor-insurance segment and the short-term effects of changes to its internal procedures.
However, the new target will not be finalised until the company knows the outcome of two deals for provision of rice-crop insurance and another deal with a bank, said Saran Wanglee, vice president for business development.
In the first quarter, NKI reported premium income of Bt642.70 million, plunging by 16 per cent from the same period last year mainly because of a 20-per-cent drop in revenue from motor insurance.
Saran said the unimpressive income figure for the first quarter was partly due to losing several million baht worth of business to competitors.
Apart from the intense competition in the motor-insurance sector, Saran explained that the company had attempted to improve its internal processes to improve the loss ratio in that sector, which resulted in less new premium income in the first quarter than expected.
“One change we made was to increase premiums for first-class motor insurance and to screen new customers more rigidly. But we are happy because we are trying hard to reduce the loss ratio,” he said.
Last year, NKI recorded premium income of Bt3.36 billion, of which Bt2.4 billion was from motor insurance, but the high loss ratio for this segment had encouraged the company to rethink the underwriting process.
As the head of business development, Saran has revamped several internal processes such as the commission standards for agents and brokers of second-class motor insurance.
“We might lose agents who will lose benefits from the commission changes, but the company wants to get quality policyholders,” he said. Moreover, the company sent a warning to sales channels that acquire customers who have unusual claims.
“We are not stopping the claims but the warning is a way to tell the sales [personnel] that if they do nothing, the underwriting team has the authority to cancel the policies of those customers, or the company will consider refusing to renew their policies,” he said. Saran believes the company will bear fruit from the improvements to its internal processes next year.
Meanwhile, NKI will attempt to drive up the income proportion from non-motor insurance premiums to 40 per cent from the current 28 per cent. To that end, it will partner with more banks as a channel to access retail customers.
At present, NKI has partnerships with TMB Bank, Government Housing Bank, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank, Thanachart Bank and Bangkok Commercial Asset Management.
