Exclusive terms and rate schedules have arrived, and 6 million car owners can purchase new energy vehicle insurance just around the corner. What is the impact of the landing of exclusive car insurance on insurance companies and intermediaries? Who will "take the helm" of the trillion new energy auto insurance market? Who will be the "dark horse"?
The new track reshapes the market landscape
New energy car insurance will be officially "stripped" from traditional car insurance in the near future. On December 14, the China Insurance Industry Association and the China Actuaries Association successively issued the "Exclusive Clauses of the China Insurance Industry Association for Commercial Insurance of New Energy Vehicles (Trial)" and the "Benchmark Pure Risk Premium Table of Commercial Insurance of New Energy Vehicles (Trial)".
"The release of exclusive terms and rates for new energy vehicle insurance means that in the future, new energy vehicles have their own insurance, and there is no need to apply fuel vehicle insurance terms and rates." Li Wenzhong, deputy director of the Insurance Department of the Capital University of Economics and Business, said so.
How big is the market for new energy vehicles? According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the third quarter of 2021, the number of new energy vehicles in China has reached 6.78 million. The team of Ge Yuxiang, a financial analyst at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, predicts that by 2025, the sales volume of new energy vehicles will exceed 10 million, reaching 10.46 million, with a total of 35.65 million.
The rising tide is also related to the premium scale of new energy vehicles. The team expects that by 2030, the premium scale will reach 1,279 billion yuan, accounting for about 31.3% of the total premium of motor insurance.
How does the trillion-dollar market develop? In Li Wenzhong's view, in a very short period of time, new energy auto insurance will become the Red Sea market, which is determined by the overall pattern of the auto insurance market. First of all, this in itself is the requirements and results of further segmentation of the auto insurance market and further accurate matching of products and rates, and will also guide the future auto insurance market to further segment and improve the matching degree between supply and demand. Secondly, to fulfill the "double carbon" target commitment, the future of China's new energy vehicles will develop rapidly, after the exclusive insurance terms and rates, the future auto insurance market structure will continue to adjust, the market share of new energy auto insurance will continue to grow, and the market share of traditional fuel car insurance will continue to decrease. Third, for some insurance companies, the continuous changes in the market pattern will bring them new opportunities to expand their business.
"New energy provides a new track, so that participants in all aspects of the automotive industry chain have a new way of cooperation, so as to build a new user ecology." For the new energy auto insurance market, Zhang Lei, CEO of Auto And Vehicle Technology, said that in the context of fierce competition in the current stock of the auto insurance industry and low operating profits, exclusive additional insurance has undoubtedly opened up a new incremental market.
New energy exclusive car insurance will continue to adapt to the needs of millions of car owners. However, how to meet the growing demand for car owners and how to improve the professional requirements of relevant personnel of insurance companies will undoubtedly bring tests to the insurance industry.
In Li Wenzhong's view, first of all, the biggest test is whether new energy vehicle insurance products can meet the needs of consumers and truly meet the risk protection characteristics and requirements of new energy vehicles. Secondly, after the release of the exclusive clause of new energy vehicle insurance, whether the knowledge reserve and business quality of the relevant personnel of the insurance company can meet the needs and can reflect the true professionalism in the process of underwriting, claims and service. Third, the new business clauses will also put forward some new requirements for the risk prevention and control of insurance companies.
Head insurance companies are again welcoming positives, and intermediary profits may be squeezed
The new energy exclusive auto insurance that has been called out by thousands of times may break the "survival" status quo of insurance institutions of different sizes in the property insurance industry and reshape the market pattern.
For insurance companies, the new energy vehicle insurance market has become a place of contention. In terms of market layout, large insurance companies continue to move, and with their leading edges in the market, they have "started first". For example, Chinese Insurance and CATL signed an agreement to cooperate in the formulation of industry standards and new energy vehicle insurance business, and CPIC Property & Casualty, Panasonic (China), and Sumitomo Mitsui Marine (China) also signed a cooperation agreement, and the three parties aim to provide innovative insurance products and services for the new energy vehicle market.
Guotai Junan analysts believe that in the case of limited profit space for new energy vehicle insurance, leading insurance companies that expect more advantageous rates will benefit more. On the one hand, the effect of dilution of fixed fees of large insurance companies is remarkable, on the other hand, the proportion of direct control channels of large insurance companies is higher, and the handling fee is relatively low.
Many industry insiders also believe that compared with large insurance companies, the car insurance underwriting bargaining of small and medium-sized insurance companies will be more difficult.
So, in the face of the trillion market, how to seize the opportunity? Li Wenzhong believes that for large insurance companies, they need to rely on their own strength to rapidly improve their business professionalism, which is conducive to stabilizing the basic disk and realizing the switch between the traditional auto insurance market and the new energy auto insurance market to reduce the impact of market changes. For small and medium-sized insurance companies, they need to tap their potential from how to meet the differentiated consumer needs of consumers and enhance the attractiveness of products to consumers.
In terms of infrastructure construction, talent team construction, and innovative technology application, the gap between small and medium-sized insurance companies is obvious, but small and medium-sized insurance companies can seek breakthroughs through differentiated competition. Ge Yuxiang's team believes that the innovative auto insurance business can become a breakthrough for small and medium-sized insurance companies, and seize the opportunities of new energy auto insurance by cooperating with electric vehicle manufacturers and ecosystems, applying insurance technology to achieve refined pricing, etc., and providing personalized services. Second, auto insurance value-added services can become a differentiated competitive advantage for small and medium-sized insurance companies.
In addition to insurance companies, the impact on the intermediary market has also attracted market attention. The "new energy vehicle insurance" further reduces the surcharge rate to 15%. "From the perspective of regulatory trends, the overall development is towards lower premiums and higher sum insured, aiming to allow consumers to buy cheaper insurance." Judging from the profit space of insurance intermediaries, future opportunities will be further compressed. Zhang Yi, chief analyst of Ai Media Consulting, said.
In Li Wenzhong's view, further reducing the additional rate of new energy vehicle insurance will make insurance companies face greater pressure on the one hand, and on the other hand, it will make it difficult for insurance intermediaries to ignite enthusiasm for new energy vehicle insurance. However, the trend of the new energy auto insurance market is clear, and they cannot refuse.
In the next step, what is the development trend of insurance intermediary companies in the new energy vehicle insurance market? Li Wenzhong believes that in the future, many small and medium-sized intermediaries may only choose to withdraw, and large-scale development will be an inevitable requirement of the market. Secondly, the reduction of the additional rate of new energy auto insurance will prompt auto insurance intermediaries to use new technologies and new carriers to reduce sales costs, and Internet auto insurance will be an important development direction.
When will captive insurance be launched? Wait for the regulatory switch schedule
With the landing of new energy vehicle insurance, consumers are most concerned about when they can be officially insured?
Wang Yuxiang, vice president of the China Insurance Industry Association, said that the time to switch new energy exclusive car insurance may have to wait a little longer for the regulator (agency) to take out the timetable, which should be very fast.
Beijing Business Daily reporter learned from the industry that a number of insurance companies have completed preparatory work, and after the regulatory time is determined, the system will be switched.
The time for new energy car insurance to "open" the door to insurance is getting closer and closer, and whether the insurance premium is rising or falling has become another topic of concern for car owners.
Judging from a benchmark pure risk premium table obtained by the Beijing Business Daily reporter, the proportion of overall premium increase policies increased from 18.3% of the original plan to 20.7%. Among them, compared with the current comprehensive reform benchmark premiums, the three insurances fell by 0.1%; the three insurance policies reduced the fee by 25%, 62% unchanged, and increased by 13%.
In terms of vehicle damage insurance, the "Premium Table" shows that when considering the switching of new and old rates, the price sensitivity of existing new energy vehicle owners in the transition period continues to maintain the price of cars below 250,000 yuan without increasing fees, and narrows the threshold for limiting the increase and decrease of rates. Compared with the current comprehensive reform benchmark premium, the car damage insurance decreased by 1.2%; the car damage insurance policy was reduced by 60.2%, 21% unchanged, and 18.8% increased.
Industry insiders said that according to the model clauses and the benchmark premium table and related instructions, new energy vehicles are insured with car damage insurance and three insurances after the terms are switched, and the overall premium is slightly lower than the premium after the comprehensive reform, of which nearly 80% of the existing policy premiums are flat or have declined; about 20% of the policy premiums will be floated to a certain extent; and the new energy vehicles with a price of less than 250,000 yuan will not rise in premiums.
As the ownership of new energy vehicles continues to grow, Zhang Yi said that for the insurance industry, the original pattern may be broken. Because the insurance industry needs to cope with the changes brought about by the new era, new products, and new foundations. He believes that from the perspective of the impact on the insurance industry, this will be the beginning of new competition, and whether it can adapt to competition on the new track will become a major highlight.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Chen Tingting Hu Yongxin
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