In the two quarters of this year, the largest type of insurance in Latvia in terms of sales volume was health insurance, which makes up 23% of the total GWP. The number of life insurance contracts has decreased, while property insurance has increased, the local press said.

Cyber insurance, sustainability, and current initiatives in the field of transport insurance were the main topics of the 18th International Conference "Insurance and Reinsurance in the Baltics 2021", which was organized by the Latvian Insurers' Association (LAA) on September 23.

Latvian insurers' six months 2021 aggregate GWP remained at the H1 2020 level (local and EU branches, summed-up) totaling ~EUR 406.7 million, while the amount paid in claims and indemnities increased by 1.8% y-o-y to EUR 249.5 million, according to the half-year figures published by The Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia (FKTK).

Consequences of water accidents caused almost half of all property accidents reported to insurers - last year about 45% of all insurance events were caused by problems with water supply, sewerage, and heating pipes, according to the Latvian Insurers Association (LAA). In turn, water accidents accounted for only about 25% of paid claim amount.

In the first half of 2021 the insurance market remained stable - although economic situation is very volatile, total GWP amount and paid claims remained at last year's level, as the Latvian Insurers' Association (LAA) reported last week.

Q1 201 Latvian insurers' aggregate GWP (local and EU branches, summed-up) totaled EUR 215.29 million, almost EUR 10 million less than in Q1 2020, according to the quarterly figures published by The Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia (FKTK).

Latvian insurers' aggregate net profits totaled EUR 10.40 million vs. a net loss of EUR -3.52 million in Q1 2020, according to data presented by the Finance and Capital Market Commission (FKTK).

According to a joint study conducted by the Latvian Insurers' Association (LAA) and the sociological research agency Norstat, over the past year, as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, more than a quarter (27%) of Latvian society has changed their perception of the importance of family financial stability.

During last year, Latvian insurers' aggregate GWP (local and EU branches, summed-up) totaled EUR 797.5 million, almost EUR 60 million less than in 2019, while the amount paid in claims and indemnities decreased by 8.8% y-o-y to EUR 501 million, according to the year-end figures published by The Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia (FKTK).

Latvian insurers' aggregate net profits expanded by 58.7% during last year (or by almost EUR 20 million in absolute value) to EUR 53.38 million, according to data presented by the Finance and Capital Market Commission (FKTK).

RENOMIA purchased a majority stake in R&D APDROSINASANAS BROKERS (R&D Insurance Brokers Ltd.), a local company based in Riga and strengthened its position within Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as Latvia became the eighth European country in which RENOMIA has direct representation.

The Latvian insurance market totaled EUR 597 million at the end of September 2020, about 1.4% more y-o-y, according to data published by the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK).

Vienna Insurance Group AG (VIG), has become 100% owner of BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (BTA) shares, the insurance market leader of Latvia.

Latvian insurance companies generated EUR 13.53 million in aggregate H1 net profit, 12% less than a year ago (EUR 15.37 million), the end-June figures published by FKTK (Financial and Capital Market Commission) showed.

Real estate intermediaries in Latvia will be required to purchase professional indemnity insurance, according to the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers (CM), which entered into force on 2 October. The professional liability of real estate agents must be insured to cover damage caused to a third party as a result of the agent's acts or omissions.

According to the data of the Latvian Motor Insurers' Bureau (LTAB), the recalculation of the annual insurance risk assessment of Bonus-Malus system (B/M) classes, which takes place every year on September 15, this year the BM class has increased for 348,226 vehicles, decreased for 197,540 vehicles and remained the same for 550,662 vehicles.

On the evening of June 11, a high-risk fire broke out in the meat processing and production workshop of the company "Lido", located in Riga. The flames had affected a two-story production building - a hangar-type warehouse, an administrative room and a smoking workshop. During the fire, a total of 600 square meters of premises were damaged.

Latvian insurers reported EUR -3.52 million net loss at the end of March vs. EUR 4.87 million net profit in Q12019, according to figures released by the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK). Non-life insurers closed Q12020 with a net profit of EUR 7.85 million (vs. EUR 3.64 million a year ago), while the life insurers reported a negative result of EUR -11.37 million vs. a net profit of EUR 1.22 million at the end of March 2019.

From 2015 to 2019, about EUR 9.6 million was paid in MTPL indemnities for the damage done to roads, road structures and buildings. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, EUR 663 thousand have already been paid for damage to infrastructure objects or their destruction.

At the end of May 2020, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) from Latvia has submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers an assessment prepared in co-operation with the Central Bank of Latvia and the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) regarding a possible merge between the Central Bank and FCMC, planned to start in 2022 - 2023.