Among 12 Croatian insurance companies which offer mandatory car insurance, Uniqa has achieved the greatest increase in revenues after the market was liberalized in 2013. Although the cost of insurance for car owners has dropped, Uniqa has doubled its revenues, from 51 to 103 million kuna. The only other insurance company which has recorded an increase in revenues is Izvor Osiguranje, which in the last two years increased its revenues by slightly more than 17 percent, to 27.9 million kuna.
Generali Osiguranje has managed to keep its revenues stable between 2013 and 2015. The data show that compared to 2013 its revenues from car insurance have fallen by just 373,000 kuna (0.38 percent), to 98.5 million kuna. It seems that Generali last year decided to change its business strategy and focus on life insurance market, where its revenues increased by 96 million kuna.
The biggest loser in the absolute amount of revenues is Croatia Osiguranje, whose revenues have decreased by as much as 292 million kuna, which represents a decline 37.5 percent. Percentage-wise, the biggest loser is Allianz, whose revenues fell by 40.6 percent, from 276 to 164 million kuna. However, by far the biggest loser is actually Agram Group, which lost as much as 392 million kuna in car insurance revenues in its two insurance companies, Euroherc (225) and Jadransko Osiguranje (167).
The price liberalization in the segment of mandatory car insurance in Croatia started in mid-September 2013, when the first price changes were made by Generali Osiguranje. In December that year, Allianz did the same, while the rest of insurance companies joined them in March 2014. The result of their fierce rivalry and competition was a huge collapse in the price of car insurance. In just about two years, in their race for cash and customers, the insurance companies lost as much as 941 million kuna. At the same time, the total number of car insurance contracts rose by 84,000.
The total revenues in 2013 amounted to 2.95 billion kuna, while in 2015 the revenues fell to 2.01 billion kuna. The cost of average car insurance contract dropped from 1,521 to 993 kuna. Such a dramatic collapse in the price of insurance contracts in such a short period of time has not been recorded in any other EU member state. For example, the average cost in Austria dropped from 292 euros in 2008 to 264 euros in 2014, while in Slovenia it declined from 214 euros to 139 euros in the same period.
