Life insurance, more of an obligation than a choice - AFSA: The vast majority of premiums are related to bank and microfinance loans
Albanians only insure their lives when they are forced to. The latest data from the Financial Supervisory Authority (AMF) shows that 83% of gross written premiums of all types of life insurance go to debtor's life insurance. So, those who insure their lives are people who take out loans from banks or licensed microfinance institutions, in order to protect themselves from the risk of being unable to repay the loan in the event of their death.
According to statistics, insurance companies collected 1.1 billion lek from debtor life insurance for the period January-July 2026, almost 9% more than in the same period last year. At the moment of establishing a loan relationship with the bank, the client must also pay for his life insurance. In conditions where loans granted to individuals are increasing from year to year, this type of insurance is also increasing, just so that at the moment of loss of life, the insurance company guarantees the bank the payment of the unpaid loan amount.
But what about other life insurance products?
Savings life insurance and Flexi Plan are the other two types of insurance that are most often chosen by Albanians, after the debtor's. With savings life insurance packages, you insure your life and save an amount of money that you determine yourself. Savings life accounts for 5% of the total gross written premiums of life insurance, while Flexi Plan accounts for about 3%. Flexi Plan guarantees coverage of medical expenses and surgical interventions.
Likewise, combined life insurance, which includes a payment of 100% of the insurance amount to family members, in the form of a single and immediate amount, if the insured person dies within the insurance period, accounts for 3% of the total premiums.
6 life insurance products such as annuity insurance, marriage-birth insurance, single birth or marriage-only insurance, collective fund management, and life insurance linked to investment funds, result in 0 premiums, which means that Albanians have no interest at all in these products offered on the market.
During the first 7 months of this year, total premiums collected from life insurance reached 1.4 billion lek, about 6% more than in the same period last year.
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