Experts note the imbalance: payments are growing 5 times faster than receipts, and the role of intermediaries is increasing (up to 62% of sales). The National Bank confirms the decline in profitability, but does not reduce the requirements, considering that the time of “easy money” has passed. The data of the annual report clearly demonstrate the changed trend.
What experts, regulators and participants of the insurance market of Moldova agree on is the opinion that 2025 has exposed deep structural problems of the industry, turning it into a zone of increased financial risks. The main comments of experts can be divided into four main directions
Profitability crisis and operational deadlock
Experts call the financial results of the year a “worrying signal” for investors, indicating a drop in efficiency. The main expert conclusion is that insurers are working on the verge of operational unprofitability. This is evidenced by the rise in the combined ratio to 103.5%. It means that operating expenses and payments exceeded the volume of collected premiums.
The growth in expenses and payouts (up 16.3%) has critically outpaced the inflow of new money (plus 3.1%). This caused the sector’s net income to shrink by 75.2% to a modest LE 72.9 million for the entire market. Two large companies closed the year with a net loss.
Logos Pressreference :
- The net total operating ratio (ROC), calculated on a cumulative basis for all non-life insurance lines, stood at 103.5% in 2025, up 7.9 percentage points from the previous year.
- At the level of the entire insurance market, the net result of activity for 2025 was positive: net profit amounted to 72.9 million lei, which is 220.8 million lei or 75.2% less than in 2024. Seven (7) insurance companies reported net profit from operations, while two (2) insurers recorded net losses.
- Return on equity (ROE) in the insurance sector was 3.9%, 12.7 percentage points lower than in 2024. Return on assets (ROA) was 1.3%, down 4.2 percentage points from the previous year.
Dangerous dependence on the “automobile” portfolio
Total Asig experts and financial observers are sounding the alarm over the critical imbalance of insurance products. The monopoly of auto insurance is becoming an Achilles’ heel. About 48% of all market premiums are provided solely by car owners’ wallets (MTPL and CASCO). If we add Green Card, the auto segment generates more than 71.6% of the general insurance market.
The vulnerability of the system, which directly depends on this segment, was not long in coming with the growth of unprofitability and tightening of requirements for payments and liberalization of premiums. Of the 2.13 million policies issued in the country, two out of three are directly related to transportation. Experts note that the 13.4% decrease in the average cost of an MTPL policy and the 10.9% decrease in the Green Card deprived companies of a “safety cushion” while at the same time increasing the cost of auto parts and repairs.
“We faced an unprecedented situation: the cost of spare parts and logistics rose by tens of percent, while the prime rates for MTPL insurance fell. Our margins have literally been destroyed by the cost of a standard hour at a service station. The general insurance market has become “hostage to the automobile.” When more than 70% of your collections depend on CASCO and MTPL, any jump in accident rates or repair prices hits the stability of the whole company”, – complain the managers of insurance companies. Including market leaders Moldasig, Asterra Grup, Grawe Carat, and emphasizing the critical imbalance of tariffs.
Thus, the management of Asterra Grup, the market leader in terms of volumes, notes that it is becoming more and more expensive to maintain its leadership. The portfolio’s high concentration on motor risks (MTPL and Green Card) in the face of rising auto parts costs is hitting margins. The company is actively investing in digital sales (online policies) to reduce dependence on an expensive broker network.
Moving away from “auto dependency” does not happen overnight. Top management sees salvation in the development of voluntary types of insurance – VMI (voluntary medical insurance), property insurance for citizens and the corporate sector. Property insurance, for example, is considered to be the most undervalued in the conditions of the crisis and growing climate risks.
Deep reforms and diversification of services are needed to consolidate the sector. Experts expect a 10-15% growth in the VHI segment this year, and 0-5% growth in auto insurance (MTPL/CASCO). In general, the Moldovan insurance market is adapting to the growing number of insured events and rising repair costs, maintaining stability at the expense of reserves. But this is for the time being, operators say.
For example, General Asigurări, which completes the top three, has one of the most extensive regional networks (more than 38 offices in Moldova). But this has turned from an advantage into a burden: the high administrative costs of maintaining physical branches have become a vulnerability in 2026, when clients are leaving en masse for online brokers.
The company is now forced to rethink costs and business strategy. In their comments, experts most often mention General Asigurări as an example of a player trying to diversify its portfolio with property and cargo insurance (Cargo) to reduce dependence on unprofitable MTPL.
“Brokerization” of the market: a plus for clients, a minus for margins
The relationship between insurers and broker networks has become one of the main topics for internal discussions. The growth of the share of intermediaries to 61.9% is assessed in two ways. Representatives of broker networks (e.g. Ing Broker) claim that digitalization and the transition of clients to intermediaries increase transparency and trust in the market. The client gets a quick price comparison and advisory services, if desired.
From the insurers’ point of view, brokers are pulling the main benefit of sales, leaving insurers with only pure claims risks. Selling through brokers is costing companies too much. For 2025, insurance companies paid 707.1 million lei of commission income to intermediaries. This is a huge outflow of liquidity, which exacerbated the fall in net profits of the insurers themselves.
In the context of tightened regulatory requirements, the market of intermediary services, which was once created by insurers themselves, is now becoming a direct competitor not only in terms of profitability of sales, but also the ability to influence the formation of reserves, other mandatory signs of stability of companies.
“We bear all financial risks, form reserves as required by the NBM, but at the same time we give brokers more than 20% of the collected premiums. This is not an economically viable model. In the life insurance segment, the dependence on agents has reached a critical 95.5%. Insurers have turned into production shops, and the distributors are left with all the margins,” believe the leading market players.
Position of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM)
The regulator’s official comments are focused on long-term stability: despite the fall in profitability, the total assets of the sector grew by 7.1% (up to 5.9 billion lei), and liquid assets account for more than 61% of the portfolio. All companies keep their solvency indicators within the minimum norms of the NBM.
This means that the companies are well capitalized. NBM emphasizes that, despite the fall in profits, technical reserves and capital remain stable.
At the same time, due to the high sensitivity of the market to auto insurance prices, NBM declares its intention to control more strictly the application of reference (base) premiums and coefficients in order to prevent dumping and bankruptcies. There are 9 licensed companies left on the market.
Moldovan insurance company executives, meanwhile, assess their current situation as a “severe operational crisis” and openly state that current business models are under severe pressure. In their statements and comments, top managers on their part call on the regulator to intervene more actively in curbing price dumping on the market in order to prevent players from going bankrupt:
“The NBM’s requirements for technical reserves and solvency have become stricter. We support clearing the market from dumping, but the regulator should control the minimum prices more strictly, so that companies do not sell policies below cost. Two companies have already made a net loss for the year. If the rules of the game do not become more predictable in terms of tariffs for CMTPL insurance, the number of players will continue to shrink,” said representatives of the insurance business.
At the same time, professional participants recognize that the NBM requirements on risk management, cybersecurity and formation of technical reserves have forced to restructure internal processes. The transition under the supervision of the National Bank of Moldova is assessed by the managers as a difficult but necessary stage.
To overcome the deadlock, insurance company executives are betting on radical changes. The companies plan to actively develop their own mobile applications and online sales to reduce dependence on brokers and keep commissions within the companies.
Logos PressReference :
In addition to compulsory insurance, the following compensation categories recorded the most significant year-on-year growth in payouts:
- land transport insurance,excluding railway insurance (CASCO) – by 38,8 million lei or 12,0% up to 362,8 million lei;
- general civil liability insurance, including insurance of hazardous industrial objects – by 42,9 million lei or by 90,7 times, up to 43,4 million lei;
- aircraft insurance –by 14.1 million lei (no compensations were recorded in 2024).
Dynamics of key types of general insurance
|
Type of insurance |
Payout dynamics |
Dynamics of collected premiums |
|
Domestic CMTPL insurance (CMTPL) |
Growth by 26,1% – 28,3% |
Decrease by 4,6% (up to 1,6 billion lei) |
|
Green Card |
Traditionally high share of payments |
Stable demand due to cross-border flow |
|
Medical (voluntary) |
Growth by 19.4% |
Increased demand in the corporate sector |
|
HULL INSURANCE |
Growth by 12% |
Growth in parallel with fleet renewal |
