European insurers saw property and casualty (P&C) insurance claims increase by 5.6% to €253 billion last year, according to data from Insurance Europe.
Of this figure, motor claims accounted for €100 billion, property €65 billion, general liability €26 billion, and accident €21 billion.
P&C claims continued to make up roughly one quarter of the overall claims and benefits paid out to insureds, which grew by 3.1% to €1,069 billion in 2018.
European life insurers paid out the majority of claims at €705 billion (a 2.6% increase), while health claims represented around €111 billion (a 4.0% increase).
Insurance Europe also reported that P&C premiums increased roughly in line with claims, rising 5.7% to €407 billion.
Motor insurance was the largest P&C business line in 2018, accounting for 35% of premiums, while property made of around 26%. Motor premiums grew 3.8% to €144 billion and property by 2.5% to €37 billion.
P&C insurance penetration also increased from 2.26% to 2.32% last year, and an average of €673 per capita was spent on P&C insurance in Europe in 2018, compared to €639 in 2017.
Total European direct gross written premiums amounted to €1,311 billion in 2018, with life premiums representing €764 billion (a 6.7% increase) and health at €140 billion (a 4.8% increase).
Overall insurance penetration increased to 7.46%, with an average of €2,170 per capita spent on insurance, compared to €2,049 in the previous year.
Insurance Europe found that European insurers’ investments remained broadly stable at €10.3 trillion.











