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Hanover (dpa / lni) - Lower Saxony's regional insurer VGH was able to maintain its overall business volume last year even under Corona conditions.
On the one hand, due to the reduced mobility and the trend towards home office, the company had to cover less damage in car insurance or from break-ins.
On the other hand, lower customer contacts and the “pandemic-related difficult sales conditions”, as CEO Ulrich Knemeyer reported on Wednesday.
The conclusion of new contracts in some areas fell short of expectations.
Then there was the persistently low interest rates, which are putting pressure on the investment business.
In its core division outside of life and health insurance (Provinzial), the VGH succeeded in generating premium income of around 1.2 billion euros, as in the previous year.
The gross surplus fell noticeably from 80 to 61 million euros.
The group did not provide information on the net result.
Residential, legal protection and property policies have performed well, while contributions in liability and auto insurance have declined.
The amount of damage decreased slightly compared to 2019, by 0.2 percent to 754 million euros.
If you include the providers of Public Insurance Oldenburg and Alte Oldenburger Krankenversicherung, which are affiliated with the VGH, total premium income increased from 2.47 to 2.81 billion euros.
There was also a slight upward trend in the Provinzial life and health insurance.
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Knemeyer estimates that the need for additional coverage could grow as a result of the Corona experience.
The pandemic "is likely to have heightened awareness of suddenly occurring risks: illness, incapacity, job loss, death of relatives or business losses that threaten the existence of the company".
One also has to keep an eye on the online business of many competitors: "We have to face tougher digital predatory competition."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210421-99-295111 / 2