Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), the leading insurer in Qatar as well as the Middle East North African (Mena) region, witnessed a robust 13% year-on-year jump in gross written premium (GWP) to QR7.2bn in the first half (H1) of 2020 despite challenging market conditions. 
The growth was predominately driven by the rate hardening in select international insurance markets and continued expansion of QIC’s domestic personal lines business with “stable” underwriting profits.
“QIC Group benefits from its very strong and robust risk-based capital adequacy in combination with the scale and diversification of our business portfolio. We are encouraged by the resilience that the QIC Group demonstrated in these unprecedented times,” said Khalifa Abdulla Turki al-Subaey, QIC Group president .
In H1 2020, QIC’s domestic and Mena operations continued to drive forward the digitisation of its personal lines business, cementing its position in the regional markets.
QIC’s personal insurance division, QIC Insured and QIC’s Life and Medical insurance arm, QLM Life and Medical Insurance capitalised on its digital capabilities and continued to manage distribution of its products and claims handling services through its sophisticated digital platforms amidst the pandemic.
The move was further supported by strong demand for online products and services, as reflected by the company’s double-digit growth in its sales volume.
QIC’s continued endeavour towards process efficiencies and automation improved its operational efficiency with a healthy administrative expense ratio of 5.7% for its core operations in H1 2020 against 6.1% in H1 2019. Overall, the consolidated net loss of the group for H1 2020 stood at QR198mn.
“While consumers and businesses in most of the key economies worldwide were in lockdown, we accomplished to grow our book of business by applying the set underwriting discipline and using efficiently our strong digital platforms,” al-Subaey said.
The underwriting performance of QIC’s international carriers, namely, Qatar Re, Antares, QIC Europe (QEL) and its Gibraltar based carriers was impacted by the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown imposed on certain markets.
Despite prevailing headwinds, QIC’s international carriers continued the successful realignment of its book of business by expanding in select low volatile businesses while de-risking its exposure to high severity classes.
QIC’s international business continues to account for 75% of total GWP, contributing “significantly” to the group’s diversification of its underwriting footprint.
In May 2020, QIC Group successfully issued $300mn perpetual subordinated Tier 2 capital notes, further strengthening the group’s robust capital position and reinforcing its efficient capital structure.
This (capital raising), according to al-Subaey, “is a testament to the strengths of our brand and the confidence of our clients and investors in QIC Group.”