Summary of 2023 of the Estonian Branch of SEB Life and Pension SE

The Estonian life insurance market has remained at the same level compared to previous years – 28,433 new life insurance agreements were concluded in Estonia in 2023 (in 2022: 29,297). According to the statistical data of the Estonian branch of SEB Life and Pension Baltic SE, 32.7% of all life insurance agreements concluded in the Estonian market last year, i.e. 9,304 new life insurance agreements, were concluded at SEB. This is 1% less than in the year before.

Even though the number of agreements concluded has remained at the same level, the customers choose more additional options of insurance cover – the number of additional options of insurance cover increased by 2.5% compared to 2022.

The majority of the insurance agreements concluded are still to cover the risks related to loan obligations: last year, we concluded 6,482 loan protection insurance agreements (in 2022: 7,040).

We continue to focus on raising customer awareness and improving the quality of service. The results of the work done and the satisfaction of our customers are also evident from the overall statistics of the market: namely, just 5% of the insurance agreements of SEB were terminated before the expiry date, which is significantly lower than the market average (8.8%).

Insurance indemnities

In 2023, SEB Life & Pension Baltic SE registered 1,198 compensated insured events with its Estonian clients and paid indemnities in the amount of more than 1.5 million euros (1,535,000 euros). A year earlier, indemnities in the amount of 1,506,000 euros were paid.

The majority of the cases compensated for involved temporary incapacity for work due to an accident, but the highest indemnities were paid in the case of the death of the person insured.

The highest number of claim applications were submitted due to mild injuries last year. The average amount of indemnities paid for temporary incapacity for work due to accidents was over 500 euros. The average indemnity in the case of death was more than 13,000 euros, while the highest indemnity paid amounted to 105,000 euros. The average indemnity paid for a critical illness was 8,000 euros, and the highest indemnity paid was 35,000 euros.

We indemnified 95% of all loss events to the customers. The main reason for a refusal to pay the indemnity was non-compliance of the event with the terms and conditions of insurance – for example, the customer had selected accident protection in the agreement, but applied for the indemnity for an illness.

Saving for a pension

At SEB, it is possible to save for a pension via second- and third-pillar pension funds managed by AS SEB Varahaldus via the third-pillar insurance solutions of the Estonian branch of SEB Life and Pension Baltic SE.

In 2023, we prepared an amendment to our fund offer. At the beginning of 2024, we renamed our pension funds based on age. You can choose a fund based on your age, which also makes it easier to check whether you are already saving in a fund that is appropriate for your age. We also merged the SEB Energetic Pension Fund with the SEB Pension Fund 100; the merged fund was named SEB Pension Fund 18+.

Starting from the beginning of 2024, SEB offers five second-pillar and three third-pillar pension fund options.

As at 31 December 2023, a total of 102,060 customers were saving their pension assets in the second-pillar pension funds of SEB and 35,237 customers were also investing in their future via third-pillar pension funds and life insurance savings solutions.

See the summary of the pension funds of SEB of last year.

Calculation of the additional profits of life insurance savings agreements

At the end of 2023, we had 18,474 long-term saving agreements, of which 10,668 were related to the calculation of additional profit.

As concerns additional profit, the Estonian branch of SEB Life and Pension Baltic SE decided the following in 2023:

• No additional profit is recognised on agreements with a non-deductible share of profit, as the long-term investment performance of the investment portfolio has been lower than the guaranteed interest rate.
• For agreements with guaranteed additional profit, we guarantee the additional profit as previously agreed.
• For agreements with reducible additional profits, additional profit will not be accounted for. The long-term net result of the investments has been negative, and the profit in 2023 will cover the net loss of previous years.

We will send the information concerning the calculation of the additional profit to the customers individually.