Business 5 December 2024, 10:33am

Home insurance up 19% year on year in Hungary - central bank

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In the first home insurance campaign in March, one fifth of home insurance policies were replaced or upgraded by customers, and this did not necessarily mean lower premiums. According to a recent statement by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB), the average premium for all home insurance policies in the country has increased by 19% in a year.

The average annual premium of full (property, and contents, i.e. movable assets) home insurance policies for individual residential properties in Hungary

increased by 19% year on year to HUF 64,800 by the end of the third quarter of 2024,

while claims expenditure stagnated. Within this, people living in Budapest pay HUF 62,100 on average, while people living in rural areas pay HUF 65,300 for their properties with a much larger average floor area, according to the MNB's Housing Insurance Index for the third quarter of 2024.

Nationally, the average price per square metre insured rose by 24% in a year, to HUF 486,000. In Budapest, this value was 31% higher than the national average at HUF 637,000.

Fully insured (movable and immovable assets) Certified Consumer-friendly Home Insurance (MFO) has an average premium 22% lower than the average annual premium for occupied properties covered by other market insurance, while its claims expenditure is 18% higher, providing an increasing customer benefit for policyholders. Combining price and service benefits, MFO products represent 50% more customer value, the MNB said.

In the first two quarters of this year, premium growth was dampened by the March housing insurance campaign, but an increase is visible in the third quarter,

i.e. a property with the same amount of insurance (HUF 50 million) could be insured at a higher premium than in the first half of the year. Within this, the premium for consumer-friendly home insurance was HUF 13,000 cheaper.

Of the 3.1 million individual (non-condominium) permanently occupied dwellings, 2.5 million are fully covered. The annual premium for 430,000 home insurance policies for movable property only was HUF 25,400 in September. The number of non-occupied, typically rural property policies was over 195,000.

The offers of individual insurers may even differ substantially from the average rates. There will also be a home insurance campaign next March, but it is a good idea to review your existing insurance contract - to track value, to take stock of covered/uncovered risks and to review insurance services - for those who will reach their insurance anniversary before then.

Cover image (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images