538 CASCO claims were received in January this year for traffic accidents, which reached 690 917 euros in disbursed insurance indemnities, and that is a significant increase as compared to January 2018, according to statistics of BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS (hereinafter – BTA).

The amount of insurance indemnity claims this year increased by 28.4% as compared to the same months last year, and by 55.3% - as compared to January 2017, when indemnity claims were made for 446 and 427 traffic accidents respectively, and 538 085 euros and 444 793 euros disbursed in insurance indemnities.

“Increase of number of traffic accidents might have been entailed by complicated driving conditions this winter due particularly changeable weather conditions, which also contributes to pothole formation on the roads. Likewise, there is still a problem with drivers choosing inappropriate driving speed and using mobile phones behind the wheel”, relates BTA Insurance Claims Handling Department director Kārlis Liepiņš.

52 insurance claims were made in January 2019 for theft and other unlawful activities by third parties, which is less than in 2018 – 63 claims. The third most frequent reason of CASCO claims is broken glass due to either a traffic accident or driving a gravel road, or ice and snow falling from the roofs, and falling trees. In January, 110 insurance indemnity claims were received and almost 35 thousand euros disbursed in insurance indemnities, which is a little more than last year – 99 such claims made in 2018, when about 33 thousand euros were disbursed in insurance indemnities.

Taking into account the large amount of CASCO insurance claims made due to traffic accidents, K.Liepiņš cares to remind the drivers that, especially in winter season one should always choose safe driving speed, maintain the distance between oneself and other drivers and beware of the potholes and other hazards on the road, which might be covered with snow and ice.

About BTA

BTA Baltic Insurance Company is one of the leading insurance companies in the Baltics, offering the broadest range of non-life insurance services in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. BTA employs more than 1,000 employees in the Baltics. The largest shareholder of BTA is Vienna Insurance Group AG with close to 200 years of experience in the insurance business. With about 50 companies in 25 countries and more than 25,000 employees, Vienna Insurance Group is the clear market leader in its CEE markets. Vienna Insurance Group is the best-rated company of ATX, the leading index of Vienna Stock Exchange with a rating of A+ with stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s; its share is also listed on the Prague Stock Exchange.

Additional information:

Elīna Rasmane

Marketing and Public Relations Department Director

BTA Baltic Insurance Company AAS

e-mail elina.rasmane@bta.lv