Lippo Insurance: Interest in Purchasing Health Insurance Rises During Pandemic. PT Lippo General Insurance Tbk.
considers that the coronavirus pandemic encourages people to better utilize insurance as protection against health risks. It also affects the growing sales of health insurance from the company.
President Director of PT Lippo General Insurance Tbk. Agus Benjamin explained that until the third quarter of 2020, it booked health insurance premiums around Rp700 billion. This amount increased by 12 percent (year-on-year/yoy) compared to the third quarter of 2019 with premiums ranging from Rp625 billion.
The acquisition was also in line with the company’s overall performance, which in the third quarter of 2020 posted a gross premium of Rp1.09 trillion. This amount increased by 9.79 percent (yoy) compared to the third quarter of 2019 premium of Rp993.07 billion.
According to Agus, the covid-19 pandemic condition that threatens health makes people need insurance more to mitigate various risks that can occur. The condition also boosted the company’s premiums as of the third quarter of 2020, of which about 64.2 percent came from health insurance.
“People appreciate insurance more and better understand the importance of having insurance in situations of uncertainty,” Agus told Bisnis, Wednesday (11/18/2020).
According to him, the health insurance business line has the potential to develop in the middle of a pandemic because of the increasing needs of the community. The Covid-19 pandemic is also expected to continue in 2021 because the whole world is still waiting for a vaccine that can be widely used.
The general insurance company with the LPGI issuer code also assessed that overall, the insurance industry still has the potential to grow in the next year as business activities slowly begin to recover. However, the insurance company must develop its business strategy well and carefully choose a prospective line of business.
“The insurance market is still large in Indonesia so the growth potential is still there. The challenge is to grow in what way and in what business segment,” he said.
In the third quarter of 2020, LPGI paid claims worth Rp732.7 billion or decreased by 10.98 percent (yoy) compared to the third quarter of 2019 with claims of Rp823.3 billion. Meanwhile, in the third quarter of 2020, the company’s total assets worth Rp2.4 trillion decreased by 0.91 percent (year-to-date/ytd) compared to the position at the end of 2019 of Rp2.42 trillion.
Nevertheless, the general insurance company that is part of lippo conglomerate in the third quarter of 2020 posted a net profit of Rp69.35 billion. The number grew by 60.71 percent (yoy) from the third quarter of 2019 with a profit of Rp43.15 billion.