Iran's Mellat Insurance, SCOR Finalize Reinsurance Deal

EghtesadOnline: Mellat Insurance, affiliated with Bank Mellat, announced that it has signed a contract with France’s SCOR SE, based on which the major reinsurer will provide excessive loss coverage for Mellat.

News ID: ۷۷۹۹۸۳

24 October 2017

According to a statement published on Mellat’s website, SCOR will cover all the catastrophic losses of Mellat’s policies in fire insurance, natural disasters, loss of profit and engineering insurance up to a ceiling of €200 million.

No further details were provided in the statement.

In early October, the Central Insurance of Iran, the industry’s regulatory body and its largest reinsurer, announced that it had reached an agreement with the French reinsurer over CAT reinsurance for Iranian insurance companies, according to Financial Tribune.

“The agreement marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation between SCOR and Iran,” Denis Kessler, the chairman of SCOR Board of Directors and CEO, had said at the time.   SCOR SE became the world’s fourth-largest reinsurer in 2015, with gross written premiums worth €13.4 billion.

Mellat Insurance’s total premium income amounted to 3 trillion rials ($7.7 million) during the first half of the current Iranian year (ended Sept. 22). Personal auto policies, medical insurance and life insurance accounted for the largest portion of Mellat’s revenues during the period, according to company’s data.

The CII had announced earlier that it has held talks with more than 140 foreign insurance and reinsurance companies seeking to enter the Iranian market since the lifting of sanctions in January 2016.

Earlier in July, Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurance company signed a contract with Iran’s Saman Insurance Company, becoming the first foreign reinsurer to start working with Iran in the post-sanctions era.