The Colombian Association of Insurance Brokers (Acoas), a union created in 1968, believes that with education for citizens and all types of entrepreneurs and training for employees in the sector, it will be possible increase industry penetration and thus help revive the economy.
(Further: ‘In Colombia, there is growing interest in insuring property and life’).
Claudia González, president of Acoas, says that an important part of the sector are the brokers, of which there are 23 in the country and they are supervised by the Financial Superintendence.
What do you do as a sector?
We help in the improvement process and provide advice to reduce risk. We represent 14 large companies. We also represent 40% of the total premiums issued.
We are more corporate, as this is how we provide comprehensive risk advice.
(Read: This is what EPS for pets looks like, the new trend in the country).
How does your sector contribute to the recovery?
Seeking penetration into other sectors such as inclusive insurance, improving insurance culture and education.
People need to understand that taking out insurance is not an expense. It is what responsible people do to protect their assets.
We go segment by segment to improve penetration because when a country is in a bad economic situation, the purchase of insurance decreases and not other things that would not affect them if they stopped using them.
(See: Two Colombian companies create alliance to protect drivers on the roads).
Did the pandemic teach us the need to get insured?
What we thought we learned during the pandemic, we lost the following year. The insurance industry contributed a lot at that time, but insurance purchases have not increased as expected, not only in insurance but in everything, but virtuality remained.
Did the insurance industry save the economy in 2023?
What is happening with insurance is that despite the recession it has been growing, not as it should have, but due to coverage from other sectors such as the pension sector, which has been increasing due to the pension reform.
(Further: Five trends that are changing the future of the insurance sector in Colombia).
What about vehicle insurance?
As sales have fallen, insurance penetration has fallen, the age of cars has increased, as has the accident rate. In addition, the cost of paying a claim is more expensive today due to various factors and premiums have fallen due to the lower number of insured cars.
HOLMAN RODRIGUEZ MARTINEZ
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