Policy-minus: borrowers' insurance has halved this year
According to the results of the second quarter, insurance premiums for borrowers fell to 35 billion rubles, or almost twice, according to the data of the Central Bank (Izvestia has it). Volumes are declining not only against the background of credit compression, but also due to the refusal of consumer loan insurance by a number of banks. Financial organizations stop offering policies that were often imposed earlier. This is done to reduce the real cost of loans and support the issuance of loans, but, in fact, leads to increased risks for the banking system. How the insurance market will change is in the Izvestia article.
Why banks are less likely to offer policies
Borrowers' insurance has sharply decreased — by the end of the second quarter, premiums on it fell by almost half to 34.8 billion rubles, according to the materials of the Central Bank. We are talking about credit life insurance (CSH), accident and disease insurance, as well as voluntary medical insurance (VMI). In total, in the first half of the year, the volume of contributions amounted to 76.5 billion rubles, a decrease of 40% compared to the same period last year.
Pressure on the segment is exerted by the refusal of individual banks, including the largest ones, from consumer credit insurance, according to the materials of the regulator. They clarified that the influence of this factor is gradually decreasing. Nevertheless, experts interviewed by Izvestia reported that such a trend is present in the market.
Some banks actually refuse to insure borrowers, Alexey Yanin, Managing Director for ratings of insurance and investment companies at Expert RA, confirmed. Currently, there are practices where a bank can divide clients into categories depending on their creditworthiness assessment — policies are not offered to more "premium" borrowers whose solvency is higher. And "dubious" borrowers are still receiving loans with insurance coverage, the expert concluded.
Due to the high key interest rate, which currently stands at 16.5%, demand for loans is falling, so banks have to look for ways to support it, said Evgenia Lazareva, head of the Popular Front for Borrowers' Rights project. Moreover, there is a risk that the growth of the loan portfolio will be lower than expected. Against this background, financial institutions do not completely abandon policies, but they may not raise the rate more often than before if they refuse insurance, so as not to lose a client.
At the same time, the main reason for the reduction in premiums was the reduction in mortgage payments, because when applying for it, life insurance is usually required, according to the materials of the regulator. According to the OKB, the volume of housing loans issued decreased by 53% over the year.
Mortgages are the largest and most long—term type of loan, so insurance is more expensive and more often required, said Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department at the Rikom-Trust investment company. In the structure of lending, housing loans occupy the first place in terms of the share of insurance premiums, large consumer loans come in second, and car loans come in third. The decrease in fees is primarily due to the decline in mortgage issuance due to high interest rates, but changes in consumer insurance are also significant for the market.
Who needs insurance anyway
In general, banks insure consumer loans in order to reduce the risk of non-repayment and receive additional income, the press service of Novik Bank clarified. If the borrower has problems, the debt is covered by the policy, but the bank in any case receives commissions from partners.
Insurance is important primarily for large and long-term loans, where the risk of disability or death of the borrower is higher, said Alexey Yanin from Expert RA. For small and short-term loans, it is less significant, since the probability of serious events is low, and the amount can usually be repaid without consequences. But all this matters if we are talking about insurance that has real consumer value, for which payments will actually be made in case of difficult situations.
There are problems with the customer value of credit life insurance policies in the market. Thus, according to the Ranking of insurance companies based on the results of the first half of 2025 from Expert RA, six out of 13 market participants have a level of payments to contributions received below 10%, and for individual players it reaches 0.7–2.6%. This means that in the vast majority of cases, clients do not receive any funds under their policies.
One of the reasons for the refusal of a number of banks from consumer credit insurance is precisely the strengthening of control over this segment, Novikom recalled. Due to the regulator's fight against misselling and the imposition of services, financial institutions have decreased their interest in selling additional services along with a loan.
The termination of credit insurance may indicate a tendency to abandon the imposition of such products, Alexey Yanin confirmed. Nevertheless, you should not wear "rose-colored glasses" either: in some cases, policies are replaced with non-insurance products that are not visible in the statistics.
According to the Central Bank, there is a tendency for insurance banks to replace other additional services. This means that customers may be left without protection in case of unforeseen situations, but they will still face additional costs, the All-Russian Union of Insurers (VSS) said. They added that insurance is protection, first of all for the borrower and only then for the bank. At the same time, borrowers, even financially literate ones, almost do not insure their lives and health on a voluntary basis, the VSS emphasized.
Ultimately, without insurance, the client bears all the risks himself — this means that if he loses his solvency, he may not be able to cope with the debt burden and go into arrears or even go bankrupt, said Oleg Abelev from Rikom-Trust. All this creates additional risks for the financial system.
The borrower insurance market is experiencing a downturn, added Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of the analytical agency VMT Consult. People are not willing to overpay for additional services, considering insurance to be an imposed rather than a useful tool. This is also evidenced by the fact that banks are removing policies from the mandatory package in order to make loans more attractive.
We are talking about a forced reaction to a drop in demand, the expert concluded. When lending activity begins to recover and interest rates decrease, market participants will almost certainly return to their previous practices, because insurance of borrowers is one of the stable sources of commission income.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
