Home insurance grows 25% in four years

A survey by the National Federation of General Insurance (FenSeg) reveals a 25% growth in the purchase of residential insurance in Brazil, from 2017 to 2021. “It was really a very relevant growth in the penetration of residential insurance”, he said this Tuesday (25) the chairman of FenSeg’s Mass Property Risks Committee, Jarbas Medeiros.

“We went from 13.6% at the time, in 2017 – the first year of the historical series – and today, 17% of all homes in Brazil have home insurance. We are talking, in absolute numbers, of 12.7 million homes across the country, ”he said.

In the four-year period, the increase was 2.8 million homes protected by home insurance.

Although the numbers for 2022 have not yet been finalized, as they depend on information from the 61 companies that sell this type of insurance in Brazil, Jarbas Medeiros estimated that the outlook is to continue growing. “Because it is a market that has a lot of opportunity. You still have 83% of households in Brazil that do not have home insurance. It’s a huge potential. Certainly, we will grow more”.

In terms of revenue, the home insurance market reached BRL 4.48 billion in 2022, an expansion of 16% compared to the previous year. In 2017, the total recorded in revenue was BRL 2.65 billion, against BRL 3.86 billion in 2021, an increase of 45% in four years.

The FenSeg survey crossed data from the 61 insurers that market home insurance in the country with figures from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the Superintendence of Private Insurance (Susep).

Regions

In regional terms, the survey identified that the highest penetration, in 2021, occurred in the South of the country, with 29.7% of homes with protection, followed by the Southeast (22.3%), Midwest (12.9% ), Northeast (7%) and North (4.6%). Among the states, leadership is exercised by Rio Grande do Sul, with 38.6%, ahead of São Paulo (29%), Santa Catarina (27.1%), Paraná (22.7%) and the Federal District ( 21.8%).

“In the Northeast and North, (home insurance) is more underpenetrated, and the Northeast has almost 20 million households. There is still a lot to do there”, said Medeiros.

Jarbas Medeiros said that the pandemic of the new coronavirus (covid-19) played an important role in the increase in home insurance in Brazil, because, as people stayed at home more, dedicating more time to work and study, they began to pay more attention to where they live. “There was a redefinition of the concept of the house. In fact, people using it much more, the residence is more subject to damage, to all kinds of situations”.

coverage

According to FenSeg, the basic and mandatory coverage in home insurance is fire, including explosion. Electrical damage, windstorms (including hurricanes, cyclones), theft (armed robbery, burglary) and civil liability against third parties, such as infiltration and leaks that affect neighbors’ apartments, are also more commercialized within home insurance.

The value of the policy depends on how much and what you hire. On average in Brazil, home insurance is around R$600 per year; for an apartment, the average price reaches around R$ 400 per year.

Only 10% of policies currently contracted include landslide coverage, while flooding represents less than 1% of the total. Medeiros highlighted that not all companies sell this type of coverage, because they are at high risk, as well as demand is still low on the part of people, due to lack of knowledge of the population and, even, for cultural reasons.

Another conclusion of the survey is that the emergency services, or 24-hour assistance plan, present in all contracts of this insurance, are increasingly used by customers. Among them are locksmiths, plumbers, electricians, glaziers, unblockers, appliance repairs.