Online property insurance premiums in China suffered a slight decline in 2017, due to the poor performance of the motor insurance sector, industry data has revealed.
Premium income decreased by 1.75% year-on-year to RMB49.35 billion (US$7.8 billion), according to the Insurance Association of China (IAC).
Motor insurance premiums, which make up 62% of the total figure, dropped 23% to RMB30.72 billion (US$4.83 billion), reported Xinhua. However, other insurance segments almost made up for it by surging 80.25%.
Return shipping insurance and travel accident insurance were among the most popular property insurance products in 2017, while more consumers bought insurance through third-party app platforms, rather than at the insurer’s official website.
Online-only insurers, such as ZhongAn, have grown in popularity and are contributing more to total insurance shares. In 2017, online-only insurers’ sales made up 18.97% of total property insurance premium income – a 10 percentage point increase from 2016.
According to IAC official Liu Yang, demand for online non-motor insurance is expected to rise even more as online shopping becomes more popular in China and insurance awareness among the population increases.
