UNIQA Group Austria’s two companies in Poland grew much faster again than the local insurance market in the first quarter of 2009. In total, the non-life insurance company UNIQA TU and life-insurance company UNIQA TU na Zycie generated a premium volume written of PLN 492 million (EUR 111 million) in the first three months of the year. This corresponds to an increase of around 22%, compared to growth of just 1.7% for the entire Polish insurance market. UNIQA now has a market share of 3.8% in Poland, putting it in eighth place amongst the 65 insurance companies operating in the country.

Jaroslav Parkot, CEO of both UNIQA companies in Poland: “We have not only grown much quicker than the market in all segments – we have also improved our technical results. Considering the fact that we doubled our premium volume in 2008 and that Poland has not been spared the effects of the turbulence on the global financial markets, we have good reason to be satisfied. However, rather than resting on the successes of the past we want to continue to grow much more strongly than the market, even though the financial conditions have worsened considerably here in Poland and the market is showing a downward trend, particularly in life insurance. The basis for future growth lies in our extraordinarily extensive range of modern, top-quality products and services – from motor vehicle and household insurance, all types of life insurance, to the rapidly growing segment of health insurance. Of sharply increasing importance is our strategic cooperation with the Polish Raiffeisenbank and the tailor-made insurance products we offer in their branches.”

In the non-life insurance segment (property and health insurance), UNIQA TU achieved an increase in premiums of 6.9% to PLN 203 million (EUR 46 million) in the first three months of the year. The market grew by 4.5% in the same period. Premiums in the life-insurance segment at UNIQA increased by 36.4% and premiums written of PLN 289 million (EUR 65 million) were generated. At the same time, the premium volume of the market fell slightly.

UNIQA employs roughly 900 salaried employees in Poland, manages over 1,9 million contracts and has over 290 customer offices and agencies throughout the country.