“Our core target is rather small communities. It is a percentage which is stable,” specifies the manager. “Our development is taking place in a few communities but we have very few terminations and very few new shares.” Groupama's objective would above all be to maintain its portfolio. “Moderate development to ensure sustainability and a lasting relationship with communities,” he underlines.
Tailor-made contracts
A reluctance which is partly explained by climate risks. “The uncertainties of 2022 and 2023 have weighed heavily. We can clearly see that balance cannot be achieved over these two exercises but over at least ten years,” he argues. Social risks or even the obsolescence of buildings and the management capacity of municipalities also weigh on their choices.
The town of Lescar is desperately looking for an insurer
Faced with the increase in natural disasters and following the riots of 2023, more and more mayors are being let go by their insurers. This is the case of Lescar, a town that has suffered very few disasters. The mayor, Valérie Revel, is calling out a warning cry.
Faced with the heterogeneity of risks, Groupama therefore focuses instead on “tailor-made contracts” for communities with long-lasting solutions for its customers, but only rarely engages in new markets. Lescar pays the price for these reasons but not only.
“We do not have the capacity to be a monopoly,” explains Maxime Bousquet. If the company signs with new communities, it is only when its penetration rate in the territory is not already too high. “However, in the Lescar sector, we are already very present.” And to specify that it was not his company which terminated the last contract (NDRL it is a German insurer). “We had previously insured Lescar for 4 years, but today we are too exposed in this territory to respond to the call for tenders again. “.
As for their historical customers, like many, they have seen their contributions increase due to the indices and over the last two years also because of climatic hazards or riots. “As a reminder, this year, on the natural disaster part, the national tax on insurance contracts was increased by 8% (from 12% to 20%), a sum which is paid to the State for the CAT Nat funds”.
