Allianz 'on track' as Pet proves pivotal in remaining personal business

Allianz has posted “expected” results for Q1 2019 as it comes to the end of its transition of business with LV=.

GWP took a hit but profitability grew as both overall operating profit as well as combined operating ratio showed improvement.

Commercial

In commercial lines,  GWP grew by 10% which Allianz says reflects some positive movement in underlying premium growth and the additional revenue generated by new commercial business following the joint venture with LV=.

At the moment, Allianz is still a minority shareholder of LV= with 49% of the business, but is due to complete the takeover by purchasing a further 20% of the business by the end of the year.

Allianz said that the COR is not where it was last year, due to ”property claims ratios showing some of the strain of claims inflation running ahead of general inflation and rate.”

Personal lines down, but not out

Personal lines took a hit across the board, but as most of the business is in the process of moving over to LV= with motor and home business expect to be fully transitioned in the coming months, it can be expected.

Speaking to journalists, chief executive Jon Dye said: ”Our GWP in personal is slightly down this quarter but that can be expected as we are still transitioning business over to the guys at LV=, which is going very well.

Proactive pet

However, the remaining personal lines brand has shown to be very profitable, leading to Allianz’s personal lines GWP and profitability to fall less than could be expected.

Allianz said: “Petplan is the major driver of the Personal Lines financial performance and the world’s biggest pet insurer continues to grow year-on-year and deliver a strong profit. In 2019 the business in on track to deliver a range of digitalised services designed to strengthen its already first rate relationship with its customers.”

Dye said that Petplan has given Allianz around “40% of the pet insurance market,” and it is proving to be a very profitable business.

He said: “Petplan will definitely be staying with Allianz, we have a major stake in the market and we intend to grow what is already a very profitable business.”

He then described how the company is managing the ever-increasing price of pet claims, as reported by the ABI last month.

“We have to reflect that in our pricing. It is a very simple system, vet bills go up, claims costs go up, we have to price it so that is reflected.”

But he thinks customers will understand the situation.

“They are the ones going to the vet in the first place, so they see first hand how much it will cost.”

 Overall

Dye said the results were “solid,” but says the hardening market is causing a certain level of strain.

He said: “At the end of the first quarter Allianz as a whole has delivered a solid financial performance. The green shoots of a hardening market in Commercial are a welcome sign and reflect under- capacity and rising claims costs. There are a wide range of economic pressures facing insurers which together with the usual potential for severe adverse weather claim, means at this early stage in the year we remain cautiously optimistic that we will deliver on our profitable growth objective in 2019.”