Property and casualty insurance

When it comes to damaged belongings, many people immediately think of insurance. And indeed: probably the oldest insurance contracts (dating back to antiquity) were taken out by seafarers and shipping companies to protect their ships and their cargo. The idea behind this insurance is to transfer an individual risk, in return for payment, to a larger collective that makes up for the loss of assets in the case of possible damages.

Even today, property insurance still occupies the most important place among the various forms of insurance. This is also true for UNIQA: around 53 per cent of the premiums written in the Group are generated in this line of business.

Hedging fundamental risks

Property insurance covers fundamental human belongings and needs: housing (which is one of our basic needs), property, mobility and damage caused by accidents or natural disasters. The goal is always to protect against major financial losses in the event of a loss. This applies to private individuals as well as businesses. We stand by our customers in the event of property damages as well as operational interruptions and disruptions or, more recently, damage caused by cybercrime.

A broad range of topics and products

The UNIQA Group offers a wide choice of property and casualty insurance products. In addition to motor vehicle insurance, these include homeownership, private accident, legal expense, liability, online shopping, transport and travel insurance, as well as numerous custom-made packages for corporate customers. We supplement the insurance against operational interruptions and cybercrime with business-relevant add-on modules such as technical, termination and all-risk insurance, as well as our own industry-specific solutions like the agricultural insurance bundle. Here too, the basic insurance module can be expanded with various attractive, extra services. These include the UNIQA ServiceBot which helps customers navigate through UNIQA’s numerous service and product offerings and various hotlines like the Anwalt PLUSservice for legal advice over the telephone, the Zuhause PLUS24service that arranges for services including plumbers, locksmiths and electricians in the event of damage, and the 24-hour emergency service specifically for businesses.

Innovation at work

As in the other business lines, the UNIQA Group is constantly fine-tuning its product and service portfolios in property insurance to meet new requirements and needs in order to stay attractive to our customers. Above all, the topics of home and mobility are currently undergoing significant changes.

One example of this is the so-called “smart home”, with which an interesting new business model is now developing in the homeowner sector. After all, the digital home also calls for new insurance products and this means interesting potential for us. Digitalisation is also giving rise to many new opportunities when settling claims, using customer-friendly online services.

Trends such as car sharing and self-driving cars could bring a huge change to the automotive sector. People, especially in urban areas, are increasingly relying on the principle of using instead of owning. It is clear that this will also have an impact on the insurance solutions needed. And in the case of self-driving cars, the question arises as to whether the software or the product manufacturer bears the responsibility in the event of an accident. Here too, UNIQA is called upon to develop innovative insurance solutions that meet the needs of the market. At the same time, the safety requirements for vehicles are becoming more and more stringent. For example, according to an EU regulation, all passenger cars and light commercial vehicles newly registered after the end of March 2018 must be equipped with an automatic emergency call system. With our SafeLine product, we have long been offering a perfect solution for this purpose which has proven itself over the last ten years.

From private individual to global corporation

As mentioned, around 53 per cent of the premiums written by the UNIQA Group come from property and casualty insurance. At 70 per cent, the private customer business accounts for the largest share. But all kinds of companies and organisations – from the sole proprietorship to globally operating corporations, from public institutions to regional associations – rely on us as well. Our customers take out most property and casualty insurance policies for a short term, usually of up to three years. The broad spread of these risks across a great many customers and the relatively short maturity allow for moderate capital requirements, therefore making this business segment attractive.

15.5 million contracts in property and casualty insurance

In Austria, UNIQA accounts for approximately 46 per cent of the total premiums in property and casualty insurance; in CEE this figure is even around 69 per cent. Whilst customers in Austria utilise our full range of products, in CEE motor vehicle insurance has dominated to date with a premium share of around 35 per cent. Insurance penetration is also significantly higher in Austria, for example, in household insurance: 98 per cent of the population take this product for granted while in the CEE region only one in two people do, although the trend is rising there as well.