There’s a war frequency benefit on the roads of Central Europe

Central Europe may be avoiding the post-pandemic rise in auto claims frequency as war-era fuel prices scare drivers off the road as much or more than the pandemic,  Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) suggested of its operations across the region.

“In Central Europe, differently than in Western Europe, there is a correlation between fuel prices and mileage driven, and therefore frequency,”  VIG board member Peter Höfinger (pictured) noted for his company’s Q1 earnings call.

The implication: The spike in fuel prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine may have pushed central Europeans onto public transportation as well as lockdowns had kept them at home.

“We see a clear trend,” he said of a “tendency” for declining frequency across the region.

Claims inflation remains too varied country by country across the region to speak of trends, he noted. “It’s not yet a clear picture.”

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