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"my family's auto insurance premium has increased by more than 1,000 yuan this year. i haven't had any accidents in the past two years, so it's normal for auto insurance prices to go down," a beijing fuel car owner told china business network recently.

there are many cases similar to the above-mentioned beijing car owners. on social platforms, netizens from many places complained that their gasoline cars had no accidents, but their insurance premiums had increased. according to incomplete statistics from china news service, in the second quarter, among the 56 property insurance companies with comparable per-car premium data, 45 companies had per-car premiums increase month-on-month, accounting for more than 80%.

▲car owners complain about the increase in insurance premiums for fuel vehicles. screenshot from social platforms

insurance companies adjust their own pricing coefficients

on the 26th, china business network learned from a car owner in jiangsu that his car insurance premium last year was about 6,500 yuan. he had no accidents for a year and thought that the premium would be reduced this year. however, he chose fewer insured items for commercial insurance and the premium still reached more than 6,400 yuan.

"except for the compulsory traffic insurance, all other prices have increased. i haven't calculated the exact amount. i have eliminated some additional items this year and only retained the compulsory traffic insurance, third-party liability insurance, and seat insurance of 10,000 yuan per seat, which is almost the same price as last year." said another car owner in jiangsu.

liu wen (pseudonym), an employee of a large domestic property and casualty insurance company, told china news service that the increase in premiums for gasoline vehicles is mainly related to the adjustment of the auto insurance pricing coefficient. after the "second comprehensive reform" of auto insurance, property and casualty insurance companies have their own pricing coefficients. generally speaking, as one of the coefficients for calculating auto insurance premiums, the higher the pricing coefficient of a car, the higher the premium price.

at the beginning of 2023, the former china banking and insurance regulatory commission issued the "notice on further expanding the floating range of commercial auto insurance autonomous pricing coefficients and other related matters", which clarified that the floating range of commercial auto insurance autonomous pricing coefficients will be expanded from [0.65, 1.35] to [0.5, 1.5], and the implementation time of each banking and insurance regulatory bureau shall not be later than june 1, 2023 in principle. this measure is called the "second comprehensive reform" of auto insurance in the industry. after the floating range of autonomous pricing coefficients is expanded, insurance companies can adjust premium prices according to their own comprehensive conditions.

liu wen explained that different car owners have different auto insurance pricing coefficients, which are mainly related to factors such as the owner's driving skills, driving habits, driving age, mileage, and the risk status of the vehicle. generally speaking, car owners with good driving behavior will receive a lower pricing coefficient and the premium will be reduced accordingly.in the absence of an accident, the increase in auto insurance premiums may be related to the increase in compensation costs. for example, the labor cost of vehicle repairs and the price of some vehicle parts have increased, resulting in an increase in compensation costs, which in turn affects the increase in the auto insurance pricing coefficient, and thus leads to an increase in auto insurance premiums.with the improvement of personal injury compensation standards and the increase in the number of personal injury cases, insurance companies need to pay higher compensation amounts. this not only increases the cost burden of insurance companies, but also prompts them to respond to risks by raising premiums.

"at present, the growth rate of auto insurance premiums has slowed down compared with the previous period. some companies can only improve their profits by adjusting the auto insurance self-pricing coefficient and raising the auto insurance premium price. different companies have different pricing strategies at different stages of the year. some may have lower auto insurance prices in the first half of the year, exchanging low prices for market share. if the low-price strategy does not meet expectations, they may raise prices in the second half of the year." liu wen said.

judging from the operating data of property and casualty insurance companies, the price increase of auto insurance is not limited to one or two companies. according to incomplete statistics from china news service, in the first half of this year, among the more than 56 property and casualty insurance companies with comparable average premium data per vehicle, about 50% of the average premium per vehicle increased year-on-year, with the highest increase exceeding 60%. among them, the average premium per vehicle of hezhong property and casualty insurance co., ltd. increased the most, with an average premium increase of about 64.53% year-on-year. in addition, the average premium per vehicle of 9 insurance companies decreased by double digits year-on-year.

from a single quarter perspective, in the second quarter, the average premium per car of 45 companies increased month-on-month, accounting for more than 80%. in the first and second quarters, the average premium per car of 56 property insurance companies was approximately 1,934.68 yuan and 2,078.48 yuan respectively. in the second quarter, the average premium per car of 46 companies was between 1,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan; the average premium per car of another 5 insurance companies exceeded 4,000 yuan, namely hyundai property & casualty insurance, nippon property & casualty insurance (china), jd allianz, byd property & casualty insurance and cathay property & casualty insurance; and the average premium per car of another 5 insurance companies was less than 1,000 yuan, namely huanong property & casualty insurance, dubon property & casualty insurance, fubon property & casualty insurance, china coal property & casualty insurance and xin'an insurance.

in the first half of the year, the growth rate of premiums of property and casualty insurance companies also slowed down. according to data disclosed by the financial supervision administration, in the first half of 2024, property and casualty insurance companies achieved original insurance premium income of 917.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.5% (9.74% in 2023) on a comparable basis, and auto insurance premium income of 431.1 billion yuan, a slight year-on-year increase of 2.77% (5.51% in 2023).

or affected by losses in new energy vehicle insurance

chen donghui, former president of swiss re china, believes that the main reason for the increase in gasoline car insurance premiums is that insurance companies hope to subsidize the losses of new energy vehicle insurance through the increase in gasoline car premiums. at present, the development of new energy vehicle insurance is constantly maturing, and insurance companies are seizing this transition period to subsidize the losses of new energy vehicle insurance through the profits of fuel vehicle insurance and support the growth of new energy vehicle insurance.

"the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market has had an important impact on auto insurance premiums. although the claims costs of new energy vehicles are generally high, insurance companies are still reluctant to give up this market. if the scale of new energy vehicle insurance business can be maintained, cost sharing and risk control can be achieved in the future. therefore, some companies insist on expanding new energy vehicle insurance business even if they face losses." liu wen said.

according to a research report by shenwan hongyuan, the average claim ratio of new energy vehicle insurance is close to 85%. most insurance companies' new energy vehicle insurance business is on the edge of the break-even line, and the pressure of losses is relatively high. yu ze, president of picc property and casualty insurance, once pointed out at the picc 2023 annual performance conference that the claim ratio of new energy vehicle insurance in the entire industry is probably more than 10 percentage points higher than that of fuel vehicles.

a property and casualty insurance industry insider with more than 30 years of insurance experience told china business network that this year, property and casualty insurance companies are facing severe operating conditions, high operating pressure, and poor performance in non-auto insurance. in terms of auto insurance, some companies have high claims ratios for new energy vehicle insurance, which makes it difficult for insurance companies to operate in this field. to meet this challenge, insurance companies have turned their attention to the traditional oil vehicle market, and have made appropriate adjustments to oil vehicle premiums to make up for the short-term operating gap caused by non-auto insurance and new energy vehicle insurance, thereby improving the operating conditions of the entire property and casualty insurance business.

will auto insurance premiums continue to rise in the future? the above-mentioned property and casualty insurance industry insider said that regulators have been combating vicious competition such as price wars, which has limited the increase in auto insurance premiums over the years. however, in order to develop the auto insurance market more healthily, the comprehensive reform of auto insurance provides insurance companies with a reasonable space for price increases, enabling them to balance overall business risks by moderately raising premiums in the oil vehicle market. in the next stage, if the investment environment improves, non-auto insurance business picks up, and the claims ratio of new energy vehicle insurance decreases, premiums will most likely decrease for both oil vehicles and new energy vehicles.

chen donghui said that there is so-called cross-subsidy in insurance, and it is impossible to achieve absolutely fair rates for every car. if car owners want to buy cost-effective auto insurance, they also need to fully compare the product rates of various companies in the market.

liu wen said that changes in auto insurance premiums are affected and restricted by many factors, and it is necessary to comprehensively consider market environment, company business strategy, cost changes and other aspects. therefore, consumers should make rational choices based on their own needs and actual conditions when choosing auto insurance products. in order to fundamentally solve the troubles caused by the increase in premiums to consumers, it is necessary to get out of the economic downturn as soon as possible.