Auto insurers see loss rates rise despite premium gains through August

Non-life insurers' loss rate for their auto insurance businesses rose in the first eight months of the year due to the limited impact of insurance premium gains following years of cuts, industry data showed Tuesday.

The nation's four major non-life insurers, including Samsung Non-Life Insurance, logged an average loss rate of 84.7 percent for auto insurance in the January-August period, according to the data.

The reading marks a 0.3 percentage-point rise from the previous year.

In August alone, the rate stood at 84 percent, down 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier, the data showed.

The loss rate refers to the proportion of coverage a non-life insurer pays to its policyholders from insurance premiums.

The higher the loss rate, the more likely the insurer is to go into the red.

Yonhap