OP counts more insurance costs as number of claims rises

More accidents occurred to Pohjola Insurance customers in 2024 than ever, said OP in a press release on Monday.

Personal customers in particular suffered significantly more major losses, and cases of common cold remain frequent.

Pohjola Insurance’s claims expenditures grew by four per cent in 2024, exceeding 1.12 billion euros.

The company compensated 94 per cent of reported losses in the last year.

“The start of the year saw many accidents occurring to property, cars and people, with most being due to frost and slippery road conditions. The loss rate levelled off towards the end of the year, but the overall number for the year was high, exceeding a million. This is the largest number of annual accidents in Pohjola Insurance’s claims history,” said Sari Styrman, Insurance Director, Claims Settlement of OP.

Last year was exceptional from the perspective of accidents caused by natural phenomena. The season of frost at the start of the year especially resulted in many losses over a wide area.

For example, compensation for losses related to leaking pipes in building saw an increase of 44% between January and June compared to the previous year, and 91% between January and March.

“The storm at the start of November caused a particular spike in losses and hit households in Southwest Finland and Satakunta in particular. The Jari storm at the end of November also caused a significant spike,” said Styrman.

In addition to losses caused by natural phenomena, personal customers were significantly hit by a larger number of major property losses, losses with the cost of compensation exceeding 300,000 euros. Underlying these losses were natural phenomena, but there were other reasons for the losses, which grew by up to 73 per cent from 2023.

“In particular, there is a marked increase in property damage caused by fires. This means that many people in Finland have lost their homes or holiday homes, for example. In various losses, the underlying reason was the frosty season at the start of the year and heating: a fireplace used after a long period of non-use, additional heaters or overloaded electrical systems caused most of the fire damage,” Styrman added.

The growth of claims paid for respiratory tract infections has topped, with cases of falls and skin diseases being compensated more than previously

The use of health insurance continued to grow and in 2024, claims paid increased by more than 10% year on year.

The company paid 153 million euros in claims for Health Insurance in 2024.