Insurance

Insurance provides protection against the unexpected and helps avoid greater financial loss. The purpose of insurance companies is to provide customers with financial support in the event of accidents, thefts and other unexpected incidents. Insurance companies offer life and non-life insurance.

Life insurance is obtained in order to provide financial support for oneself and loved ones in case of terminal illness, loss of capacity for work, accident or death. Life insurance can also be bought to collect money.

Non-life insurance is obtained to mitigate financial damage. The most common types of non-life insurance are motor, travel and home insurance. The most common of them is compulsory motor insurance for all trailers and motor vehicles with a maximum authorised speed exceeding 15 km/h. Motor insurance compensates both property and personal injury to other persons as well as traffic damage caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles.

In insurance statistics, Statistics Estonia publishes by type of insurance:

• premium payments received by insurance companies;
• compensation payments made by insurance companies.

The insurance premium data are used for the calculation of the consumer price index (CPI).