Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 11
By Taleh Mursagulov – Trend:
The situation in the field of compulsory real estate insurance in Azerbaijan is tense, but the potential of the market is big, Khayal Mammadkhanli, expert in the field of insurance, chairman of the committee of insurance mediators of the Association of Insurers of Azerbaijan, told Trend.
“Despite compulsory real estate insurance applies to both individuals and legal entities, the overwhelming majority of the insured are legal entities,” he added.
"There is no control in the field of insurance of apartments by individuals,” Mammadkhanli said. “Most people do not insure their real estate. If apartments and houses are insured, then the market for compulsory insurance of real estate may increase by 2-3 times compared to the current indices."
“The majority of citizens are not aware of the fact that real estate insurance is mandatory,” he said, adding that they do not know about the existence of fines in this area.
"In fact, a fine worth 30 manats is envisaged for individuals for evasion from real estate insurance, but there is no organization that regulates it or fines," he said.
Mammadkhanli added that one of the factors hindering the development of this market is that real estate insurance is still in paper, rather than e-form.
"This prevents the creation of certain innovations, online products,” he said. “But if this is converted into e-form, then it is possible to sell the insurance product to citizens online."
“Presently, the Association of Insurers of Azerbaijan is discussing the revival of this sphere in 2019,” Mammadkhanli said.
The fees for compulsory insurance of real estate in Azerbaijan in January-October 2018 amounted to 25.299 million manats, which is 4.1 percent of all fees. At the same time, payments amounted to 3.284 million manats.
Presently, 13 insurance companies that are members of the Compulsory Insurance Bureau (Ateshgah Insurance OJSC, Standard Insurance OJSC, AtaInsurance OJSC, Xalq Insurance OJSC, PASHA Insurance OJSC, AXA MBASK OJSC, AzInsurance OJSC, AzerInsurance state insurance commercial company, Meqa Insurance OJSC, Silkway Insurance OJSC, Azerbaijan Senaye Insurance OJSC, Qala Insurance OJSC, Gunay Insurance OJSC) operate in Azerbaijan.
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