Agroseguro is part of the 37th Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Insurers (AIAG) in Geneva
Agroseguro welcomed international delegations from the Philippines and Malta who visited to gain insights into Spain’s Combined Agricultural Insurance system
17/10/2023- Its president, Ignacio Machetti, took part in the Congress by delivering a presentation on the trends and operation of agricultural insurance in Spain.
Since yesterday, Monday, Agroseguro has been an active part of the 37th Congress held by the International Association of Agricultural Production Insurers (AIAG) in Geneva (Switzerland). This year, the Congress was celebrated under the title: “Agricultural insurance: A key tool for risk management in the agricultural sector.”
In yesterday's session, Ignacio Machetti, President of Agroseguro, presented insights into the Spanish agricultural insurance system, discussing trends and measures to ensure its viability. During his presentation, he highlighted key figures for agricultural insurance in 2023, emphasising the historic accident rate “that is projected to reach approximately 1.25 billion euros by the end of the year. The severe drought, persistent storm fronts, and frost-induced damage have substantially raised anticipated compensation figures "well above the usual, which is a good example of the usefulness of agricultural insurance in years and contexts like this one".
He emphasised that "the evolution of the claims-to-premiums ratio has been highly unfavourable over the past decade". Severe droughts, notably the unprecedented one in 2017 and the most severe in history experienced in 2023, resulted in record compensation of almost 460 million euros. Additionally, storms with intense rains and hail, such as in 2018, 2019, and 2020, historic snowfalls like the one in 2021 with the Filomena storm, and severe frost in the early days of April 2022, caused compensation worth 220 million euros in just two days.
Ignacio Machetti has reiterated “the commitment of Agroseguro and the 17 insurance entities that make up the Group to the viability of the system” and has highlighted the importance of continuing to apply the “actuarial technique” to achieve balance across the 45 lines of insurance. He also stressed the significance of promoting the individualisation of policy conditions to avoid generalised measures.
He has also referred to the vital support of public reinsurance provided by the Insurance Compensation Consortium, a crucial financial pillar, “which in 2023 will bear a figure greater than 400 million, and whose capacity has been greatly affected due to the evolution of incidents in recent years".
In his address, he particularly underscored the support of public administrations, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the autonomous communities, which now subsidise "50% of the insurance cost, a ten-percentage-point increase from a decade ago". He concluded his presentation by reiterating the need for "anticipation and continuous monitoring of climate change" and emphasising that adapting to climate change is a collective responsibility involving both insurers and producers.
The 37th Congress of the AIAG brings together more than 330 representatives from insurance and reinsurance companies across 33 countries, including representatives from agricultural insurance managing entities, public administrations and experts from the insurance sector.
