“When the pandemic happened, we lowered the rates 10%, additionally for fleets we lowered them even more. In the first half of 2021 we did not touch rates and in the second we adjusted them by an average of 8.5%. Despite the accumulated inflation, we have not recovered what that we went down,” Bernardo Risoul, financial director of Quálitas, said in an interview.
At the end of 2021, the company reported a drop in its profit compared to 2020 because this price adjustment has not been 100% reflected in the rates that the company managed prior to the pandemic.
The insurer explained that the chip crisis that occurred last year in the automotive industry affected it on two sides: the first in the sale of new cars that could not contract insurance and in the repair of cars that suffered an accident.
Accident rates, which mean car crashes and thefts, saw a 22% increase in 2021 as a result of increased mobility.
“The crisis we experienced was chips Y ships because there was also a problem with the collapse of the shipping lines, that did hit us more because we have seen the shortage of spare parts and that means that the time it takes us to repair cars has been longer. We are trying to mitigate it by looking for pre-owned and generic auto parts to deliver the car as quickly as possible,” Risoul said.
Towards 2022, the growth of the insurer will be conditioned by the speed at which the automotive industry recovers its sales. The Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA) expects a growth in car sales of between 2 and 3%.
Advances in health insurance
Quálitas, which owns 32.2% of the auto insurance market in the country, will seek to attract new clients in the second half of 2022 through its foray into medical insurance.
“We would like to launch the first policy at the end of the first semester or beginning of the second semester,” Risoul said.
Risoul said that he has worked with the Ministry of Health and the National Insurance and Surety Commission (CNSF) to register the insurer.
Quálitas seeks to provide “differentiated care” in medical insurance, although it is aware that in the first few months it will not be a distinctive segment in the sector.
“We see a transformation in the auto industry ahead, which could lead to a transformation in the auto insurance business, and we don’t want what has happened to other industries that don’t see that a disruption in any category can leave them vulnerable,” he said.
