IIF 2015 Property Insurance in a Stormy Era Munich, June 22-23 Agriculture Insurance Programs developed with PPP mechanisms case study of Europa Re Marijana Lemic-Saramandic, MSc Country Program Manager for Serbia and Macedonia
OBRENOVAC - BEFORE OBRENOVAC - AFTER SERBIA, MAY 2014 FLOODS EUR 1,7 billion estimated losses and damages The most severe flooding in 120 years More than 1.6 million people affected (22% of the total population) Total losses and damages equal to 4,7% of GDP
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, MAY 2014 FLOODS Losses and damages amounted more than 15% of GDP
Financial resilience of local communities to natural disasters is a critical component of effective Disaster Risk Management
Europa Re Program In order to address the problem of low catastrophe and weather insurance penetration in Serbia and other Countries in the South and Eastern Europe, the World Bank has initiated SEE CRIF/Europa Re Project. Europa Re is a unique model of cooperation among states in the region, global institutions and the private sector. Europa Reinsurance Facility Ltd is a Swiss-based specialty property catastrophe reinsurance company fully licensed by Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA as of 1 January 2014. Its founders and main shareholders are the governments of South Eastern Europe: Serbia, FYR of Macedonia and Albania. Other countries have expressed their interest to join the program. Europa Re s main supporters are the World Bank, European Union, United Nations, Swiss Agency for Development (SECO) and the Global Environment Network (GEF).
Europa Re Unique model of cooperation Operational support Member countries Europa RE goals: - Increase the level of catastrophe insurance penetration in the SEE region; - Educate consumers about the exposure of their properties and businesses to weather and catastrophe risks; - Improve and standardize credit quality of catastrophe insurance products; - Enable insurance companies to sell complex weather and catastrophe risk insurance products; - Help governments and insurance regulators to enact regulatory and policy reforms conducive to the development of catastrophe and weather risk markets.
Key Services Risk Management Market issue: lack of high-resolution and reliable catastrophe (cat) models for SEE cat exposures ERe solution: provide local insurers with state-of-the art probabilistic cat modelling tools based on the latest technology Ere s Cat Models technology is underpinned by: - AIR s global research in catastrophe risk modeling - Country specific risk data - Unique business applications ERe s Risk management systems allow insurers to accurately evaluate: Potential losses resulting from catastrophe insured risks at any point in time; Net retention capacity relative to available solvency.
Europa Re s support to central and local governments Assessment of Risk Exposure Custom tailored insurance cover Highly reliable and affordable insurance coverage sold through local insurance companies Efficient and fast claims assessment and settlement
Innovative Catastrophe Insurance Products Earthquake Homeowners SMEs Banks Farmers Local governments Flood Homeowners SMEs Banks Farmers Local governments Agriculture Individual farmers Commercial farms Banks Local governments Others FAST and SIMPLE CLAIMS ASSESMENT AND SETLEMENT procedure after a catastrophe event!
Swiss Visual Pro Insurance Swiss quality in terms of the highest solvency standards; Claims settlement approach based on images of damaged building; Simple Easy to understand Transparent Pay losses quickly and in a simple claims assessment procedure Highly reliable Professional image capturing and assessment for the purposes of documenting and calculating insured property damages.
Agriculture sector and natural disasters Agriculture production is increasingly influenced by climate change. SEE countries have been faced with severe droughts in the last ten years, with inestimable consequences to crops and fruits. Drought is one of the largest agricultural risks that has the potential to reduce yields for over 50%. Although 40% of people in Albania, 20% in Serbia and BiH and 30% in Macedonia work in agriculture, insurance penetration is very low. Macedonia: 4%, Albania: N/A, Serbia: 8%.
Risks of Natural Catastrophes-Projections Projections for climate changes in SEE Region Temperature increase by 1.9 degrees by 2050. Decline of average precipitation of 5%, summer period to 17%. Increased exposure to new pests and diseases for agricultural crops and livestock.
Why is Europa RE focusing on Agriculture Agriculture is an important sector of the member countries economies. % from domestic production % from export population depand on agriculture Not attractive sector for private insurance companies due to high risks. Disadvantages of traditional insurance agriculture products for farmers. Very low agriculture insurance penetration. Number of farmers Macedonia 12-19% 15% 30% 145.000 Albania 12% 6% 50% 350.000 Serbia 10-15% 24% 30-40% 1.350.000
Farmers Agriculture Insurance Europa Re s strategic view Government Direct subsidies Insurance premium subsidies As result: Expertise on improving the subsidy scheme Awareness Education Improved market mechanism - Farmers profit and assets are better protected - Higher incentive to produce Europa Re Development of distribution channels Outcome New user friendly and affordable products Know how New Insurance Products - Increased production - Increased income Insurance companies Basic Insurance protection Specialized Insurance protection - Higher contribution to economy
Results from the agriculture survey Small individual farmers and commercial farmers see weather as a large risk for their corps, production and income. Weather events with highest impact are hail and drought. More than 90% of farmers do not use insurance or have never bought an agriculture insurance policy. Farmers do have some limited knowledge on traditional agriculture insurance but do not buy such policies since they find them expensive. Lack of trust in insurance companies due to bad past experience in claims assessment and settlement procedures. More than 98% insurance policies cover only basic insurance risks: hail, fire and lightning.
Europa Re activities on development of new agriculture products in member countries Scoping missions in the three countries meetings with government institutions, insurance companies, farming community; Desk review of the sector, subsidies arrangements, agriculture insurance; Conducted feasibility weather study; Conducted agriculture insurance survey in order to get a better understanding of farmers perceptions, on product needs and design, and suitable distribution channels.
Challenges identified Small farm size: Serbia average 3.2ha, Macedonia - 2.3ha, Albania - 1.02ha. Latest figures show further decrease. Frequent disasters such as: draught, hail, floods, rainfall. Lack of awareness. Governments support only small farmers - adverse effect on development of agriculture insurance. Lack of digital meteorological stations for development of weather parametric products (in Albania and Macedonia). Continuous government support after disasters those with insurance do not receive government support.
Serbia: Simple crop analysis - maize Maize is the most important crop: almost 50% of total arable crop area, followed by wheat, sunflower, soya. Average farm size is small 3.2 Ha Cultivated Area Major Crops 2011 (Total Area 2.537 Mio Ha) Source: Statistics Office, Republic of Serbia
During 12 years, over half a million MT of maize has been lost each year due to drought and other climatic and natural perils In 2012 about 2.2 million MT of maize production was lost due to drought valued at US$ 328 million In 2003, about 1.9 million MT was lost valued at 285 million The annual value of losses in maize is estimated at about US$ 76 million Year Production (MT) % change on previous year Production Loss (MT) Value of Loss (US$) 2001 5,910,485 - - 2002 5,586,426-5% 135,604 20,340,600 2003 3,817,338-32% 1,904,692 285,703,800 2004 6,569,414 72% - - 2005 7,085,366 8% - - 2006 6,016,765-15% - - 2007 3,904,825-35% 1,817,205 272,580,750 2008 6,158,122 58% - - 2009 6,396,262 4% - - 2010 7,207,191 13% - - 2011 6,479,564-10% - - 2012 3,532,602-45% 2,189,428 328,414,200 Average 5,722,030 503,911 75,586,613 Estimated Value of Production Losses in Maize (Maize valued at US$ 150/MT) Estimates based on SSO maize production statistics
National Crop Yields have been severely affected by climatic perils (mainly drought) 4 times in the period 2000-2012 Source: Analysis based on SSO data.
National Crop Production and yields for nearly all field crops were severely reduced by drought and other climatic perils in 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2012 Source: Analysis based on SSO data.
May 2014 floods in Serbia Impact on Agriculture Sector EFFECTS OF THE DISASTER ON AGRICULTURE 228 million EUR Destruction of physical assets (Damage) 107,9 million EUR Changes in production flows (Losses) 120,1 million EUR Source: Serbia Floods 2014, RNA Report
First Europa Re endorsed Agriculture Insurance Product launched in member countries Area Yield Index Insurance (AYII) is a multiple-peril loss of crop yield policy that insures against all climatic, naturally occurring and biological perils - it is an "all risks" loss of yield policy. AYII Policy Insures farmers against an area yield index, the index municipality average yield for each selected crop. It is very appropriate for systematic or covariate risks such as drought, frost, windstorm, continuous rain damage, high temperature and catastrophe flood which impact over a broad area e.g. the municipality.
Europa RE benefits and opportunities Provide local insurers with adequate reinsurance capacity, to develop affordable, well-designed and actuarially priced insurance products; Introduce and promote a modern insurance market infrastructure, including risk-based regulatory framework; Create and enhance demand for catastrophe and weather insurance products in member countries; Increase public awareness and financial literacy about the risks of natural disasters; Considerably reduced administrative expenses in processing policy sales and managing the risk of catastrophe insurance products; Improve the credit quality of insurance products; Efficient, reliable and fast claims settlement processes; Improved regulatory compliance.
Europa RE challenges on SEE market Increase the participation of local insurance companies in the program; Increase public s disaster risk awareness and knowledge; Raise awareness for Agriculture Insurance as financial protection of business of the farmers; Introduction of alternative insurance distribution channels; Develop adequate policy framework. Main challenge: to boost demand for catastrophe insurance products
Thank you! Contact: marijana.saramandic@europaremanagement.com info@europa-re.com www.europa-re.com