As per GlobalData’s Property Insurance Industry Outlook in South and Central America in 2022 report, the property insurance industry in South and Central America recovered by an estimated 7.9% growth in 2021 after a contraction of 3.4% in 2020, due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The region's key economic sectors include manufacturing, mining, and agriculture activities, which suffered due to lockdown restrictions and a drop in global demand. Construction, another significant driver of the property insurance business, also declined in output due to the restrictions.
The topography of the region makes it highly susceptible to climatic alterations caused by the El Nino and La Nina phenomena. It frequently experiences earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, tropical storms, floods, and droughts. Losses in the property insurance segment are largely driven by Nat-Cat events in the region. Given the region’s exposure to extreme weather events, developments related to affordable agriculture insurance including index-linked insurance are expected to be a focus area for regional property insurers.
For example, in 2020, the Jamaican government announced plans to launch microinsurance cover for risks associated with climate and weather-related events. It will expand the penetration of peril risk insurance among homeowners and business operators and make it accessible for small income groups, and small and microenterprise businesses.
Escalating losses caused by catastrophic events has led to a renewed focus on parametric insurance solutions in recent times. The parametric insurance complements traditional insurance by paying a pre-agreed settlement based on a trigger or index. Available parametric insurance within property insurance consists of agriculture insurance (mostly to cover losses caused by drought), earthquake insurance, BI, renewable energy insurance against weather risks, and insurance against tropical cyclones.
The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC), a company active in the Caribbean region to deliver insurance support for catastrophes, in 2021, received a grant from the Government of Ireland to support the rollout of its parametric insurance product for the fisheries sector in five additional CCRIF member countries in the Caribbean. Grenada and Saint Lucia held this policy since its inception in 2019.
According to GlobalData’s Property Insurance Industry Outlook in South and Central America in 2022 report, among the top 10 insurers in the region, four insurers were European, accounting for 25.5% of the market share in 2020. They were Mapfre SA, Zurich Insurance Group, CNP Assurances and BNP Paribas Cardiff.
Mapfre SA is a Spain-based conglomerate, which held 10.3% of the property market share in 2020. It is a leading property insurer in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina.
The leading domestic insurers among the top 10 were Suramericana, Porto Seguros, BB seguridade and Rimac Seguros y Reaseguros, with a combined share of 13.4% in 2020.
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