The fifth edition of Financial Literacy Days shall be held next week
The fifth edition of Financial Literacy Days shall be held next week, November 1-3, organized by the financial regulatory institutions in cooperation with their financial companies. To be more precise, the organizers of such event are the National Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Securities Commission, the Agency for Supervision of Fully Funded Pension Insurance – MAPAS and the Insurance Supervision Agency and the private financial sector is also expected to become one of the organizers.
This year, due to the conditions imposed by Covid-19 pandemic, Financial Literacy Days shall be organized primarily as educational lectures via video conference which will allow large number of interested citizens to attend the event. All institutions participating in this year’s edition will inform the citizens via their websites and social network pages about the planned activities and e-events, also notifying about the registration method for every interested citizen.
The financial regulatory institutions ask the citizens to monitor the information about the planned activities and to be actively included in this year’s edition of Financial Literacy Days. The purpose of this action is to strengthen the financial education, encourage financial inclusion and raise the awareness and protection of the users of financial services.
In the course of the year, the financial regulatory institutions implemented most of the planned activities in the sphere of financial education and financial inclusion, while being adjusted to the conditions of the “new normal”. Additional strengthening of such activities is expected in the forthcoming period, considering the commenced implementation of the first National Strategy for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion, adopted in July this year by the financial regulators.
The highest amount for insurance of property of natural person is a family house insured in the amount of EUR 3.2 million.
The highest corporate policy issued in this country covers maximum damage up to the amount of EUR 1.26 billion. The maximum insured amount of Casco insurance of vehicles for covering damage is EUR 41 million and such insurance contract is concluded with enterprise for public transport of passengers. The policy with the highest insurance amount for payment of damage for private health insurance covers up to EUR 2.3 million for insurance of almost 800 employees.
The highest amount that can be disbursed for damage of insured property of natural person is MKD 198 million (EUR 3.2 million). The aforementioned insured property is a house – real estate owned by natural person. The official data from the Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) for the first half of this year show that the insurance companies have over 128,000 active real estate insurance contracts concluded with natural persons.
The highest coverage of property damage in the corporate sector comes from a large company from the power sector. The maximum coverage under this insurance contract that the company may charge is MKD 77.65 billion (EUR 1.26 billion). The corporate sector has over 32,000 active property insurance contracts concluded by 30 June this year.
In accident insurance class, the maximum insured amount per active insurance contract that can be disbursed is MKD 4.26 billion (EUR 69.3 million). The aforementioned refers to collective insurance of over 8,500 employees. By the end of June there were 628,000 active insurance contracts concluded in this insurance class.
In private health insurance class the maximum insured amount per active insurance contract is MKD 142.9 million (EUR 2.3 million). This refers to collective insurance for serious illnesses of almost 800 employees in a public health institute. In this insurance class there were over 12,000 active insurance contracts concluded by the end of June, which provide private health insurance for over 38,000 persons.
The highest coverage for Casco insurance of motor vehicles is in the amount up to MKD 2.5 billion (EUR 41 million). The policy is concluded with a public transport enterprise. By the end of June there were 50.000 active insurance contracts for Casco insurance of motor vehicles concluded in this insurance class.
The most valuable cargo policy covers damage up to MKD 3.4 billion (EUR 5.6 million) for insurance of all parcels realized in the validity period of the insurance contract.
The policy with the maximum insured amount (prescribed by law) when it comes to mandatory car liability insurance covers damage up to MKD 93.4 million (EUR 1.5 million). The aforementioned policy is concluded by a company for transport of explosive materials insured against material and non-material damage. By 30 June there were over 611,000 active insurance contracts concluded in this insurance class.
The Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) is an independent regulatory body which regulates the insurance market, supervises the operation of the insurance entities, takes care of the protection of the rights of the insured and contributes to financial education and inclusion of the population.
Citizens of life insurance collected 4.6 million EUR in six months
At the same time, citizens and companies (for their employees) invested 14.8 million EUR in life insurance policies, or higher by 9.6 percent than the same period in 2020.
Five insurance companies paid 281.3 million MKD (4.57 million EUR) for life insurance to their policyholders in the first six months of this year. Compared to the same period last year, the amounts paid (gross claims paid GCP), for life insurance collected by policyholders, increased by 42 percent or 1.36 million EUR, according to official data from the Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA).
Life insurance policies, depending on the terms of the contract, ie. policy, cover risks of death, disability, but can also often be a way of saving. In addition to the invested funds, the insured can also receive part of the yield (interest) of the invested funds.
The largest share in the total payment have life insurance policies where the insured receives part of the yield (interest) of the invested funds. On that basis, 245.9 million MKD (4 million EUR) were paid in the first half of the year.
It is noteworthy that in this period the companies paid 86.77 million MKD to insured persons who decided before the expiration of the agreed insurance period to withdraw their invested money (so-called “policy purchase”). Compared to the same period last year, this amount this year increased by 36 percent compared to the same period last year. In practice, purchasing policies can often happen if the insured gets better terms for investing in one of the competing life insurance companies.
In the rapidly growing life insurance products, the so-called “Unit Linked Insurance Plan”, when the insured accepts the risk of investing in shares of investment funds, tends to increase payments. For the first six months of this year, holders of such policies collected 10.46 million MKD (170,000 EUR), which is 91 higher than the same period in 2020.
In the first six months of this year, citizens and companies invested 908 million MKD (14.76 million EUR) or higher by 9.6 percent than the same period last year.
The Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) is an independent regulatory body that regulates the insurance market, supervises the work of insurance entities, takes care of the protection of the rights of the insured and contributes to financial education and inclusion of the population.
Paid damages for private health insurance increased by 87.5% and reached EUR 1.5 million
In the first six months of the year the number of contracts on purchased private health insurance policies increased by 48%. The investments of the insured in such insurance reached EUR 3.8 million. In the first six months of the year, the insurance companies paid 87.5% more funds for reported damages compared to the same period in 2020.
The amount of the paid damages covered with private health insurance in the first six months increased by 87.5% and reached MKD 92.6 million (EUR 1.5 million). The official data of the Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) show that at the same time the investments of citizens and companies in private health insurance increased by 38%, thus reaching MKD 232.5 million (EUR 3.8 million).
Data on paid damages and sold policies confirm that private health insurance, in the context of the current health pandemic, becomes quite popular and widely accepted by the insured (citizens and legal entities). At the same time, the amounts that the insured invest in private health insurance also increase for the purpose to ensure more qualitative health protection from the public health, which is not covered by the state budget and the state Health Insurance Fund.
In the first six months of the year the insurance companies selling private health insurance policies settled i.e. paid 9,144 damage claims of their insured. That is 68% more compared to the same period in the previous year when the insurance companies settled 5,432 damage claims. In the same period, 9,870 private health insurance policies were sold which is 46% more compared to the same period in 2020. For the first six months of this year only 2 complaints were submitted to ISA from dissatisfied insured for damage coverage upon private health insurance policy.
The amount of the paid damages for private health insurance reached 5% in the total amount of gross paid damages (GPD) for the first six months of this year. For this period the participation of paid damages for private health insurance reached 67% compared to the same period last year when this insurance class participated with 3% in the GPD.
The highest individual paid damage covered with private health insurance is MKD 610,000 (EUR 10,000).
Insurance Supervision Agency (ISA) is an independent regulatory body which regulates the insurance market, supervises the operation of the insurance entities, takes care of the protection of the rights of the insured and contributes to the financial education and inclusion of the population.
