In 2015, AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company (hereinafter – BTA) paid insurance indemnities for the damage done to specialised equipment in the amount of 663 264 euros, which is almost three times more than in 2014. The increase in the amount of indemnities has been caused by the growth of number of insurance claims, submitted to BTA – last year BTA has received 25% more insurance claims than in 2014.

In accordance with the statistical data of BTA, interest of people in insuring specialised equipment grows every year. Last year BTA insured 15% more items of specialised equipment. At the same time it should be noted that the volume of disbursed indemnities has grown, too. In total last year BTA has paid indemnities for damages or loss of specialised machinery and equipment in the amount of 663 264 euros, and the year before the total sum of indemnities disbursed for damages of the specialised equipment was 237 528 euros.

Having analysed the insurance claims registered in 2015 in the insurance of special equipment, BTA has come to a conclusion that the greatest growth in the number of claims was about broken windows of the specialised machinery and damage caused by fire. In total in 2015 BTA received 17 insurance claims about the broken windows of specialised machinery, which is 54% more than a year before that. BTA’s experts explain that most often the windows of machinery are broken during its operation, when some objects happen to be thrown against the window glasses, for example, a stone may be caught from the ground during hay-mowing and be thrown at the window of the machine, or upon forest felling branches of trees may hit both front and side windows of the machine.

However, the number of claims received by BTA regarding damage done to specialised equipment by fire has grown by 25% in comparison with 2014. In total BTA has paid indemnities in the amount of 257 838 euros for the damage done to specialised equipment by fire in 2015. The specialised equipment was damaged in fire mainly due to various technical errors, which resulted in flames, and most often the machine could only be written off or it required substantial repair.

According to Iveta Rijniece, Director of Claims Handling Department of AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company, BTA’s observations reveal that the owners of the specialised machinery should pay more attention to technical maintenance of their items, and should be more attentive when driving it on the roads: “Performing regular technical maintenances, we suggest the owners of specialised machinery to pay more attention to the condition of the hydraulic system and cable connections, because breakages of these systems are among the most often causes of accidents in insurance of specialised equipment. Unfortunately, in most cases after such damages the item can only be written off.”

“Among the most common causes of accidents in insurance of specialised equipment are also traffic accidents, which are mainly related to violation of traffic rules or that the owners of vehicles overestimate the manoeuvre capability of specialised equipment on the road,” – admits Iveta Rijniece.

Last year the largest indemnity in the insurance of specialised equipment – 205 thousand euros

Based on the data about insurance indemnities disbursed last year under specialised equipment insurance, BTA has drawn up TOP3 of the largest insurance indemnities in this type of insurance. Last year the largest insurance indemnity in specialised equipment insurance – 204 998 euros – was paid by BTA in Bauska Region for the combine harvester CLAAS LEXION 600 of year 2010. The fire was caused oils from hydraulic system getting in contact with the hot surfaces of exhaust system. The indemnity paid for this insurance case is also the biggest sum paid out by BTA under specialised equipment insurance in the last three years.

The second largest insurance indemnity in specialised equipment insurance – 194 555 euros – were paid out by BTA for the damage done to special road marking machine in a traffic accident on the road Riga – Ainaži, when a truck attempted to perform overrun and caused a collision with the painting machine.

BTA disbursed the third largest insurance indemnity in the amount of 43 470 euros for the tractor Zetor Forterra, which was lost in fire in Daugavpils Region. The fire was caused by electrical installation failure.

BTA is one of the largest indemnity payers in Baltics. Last year BTA has paying insurance indemnities in Baltic States in average amount of 398 thousand euros every business day, which makes it 50 thousand euros every working hour.

About BTA

AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company was founded in 2014, after reorganisation of BTA Insurance Company SE, performing successful division of the company according to the geographical distribution of its business operations: Baltics and rest of Europe. BTA Insurance Company SE, being a mother company of AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company, has been successfully operating on insurance market for more than 20 years, in 2009 becoming the third biggest insurer in Baltic States. The international growth of BTA is proven by the TOP 500 of Central European Companies issued by the international auditor company Deloitte for year 2013, where BTA ranks among 50 largest insurance companies in Central Europe.

In December 2015 AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company concluded a contract about attraction of an investor – one of the leading insurers in Europe – Vienna Insurance Group AG (VIG). The deal shall be completed after receiving all the necessary permits from the authorities, supervising the operation of the industry, which might take place in the first six months of 2016.

More information:
Agnese Grīnberga
Public Relations Manager
AAS BTA Baltic Insurance Company
email: agnese.grinberga@bta.lv
Phone: +371 67025661, mobile: +371 27828796