This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
Only drivers in Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia pay less for compulsory motor liability insurance. Even so, Ominimo says some drivers in Poland are overpaying and is selling policies for less than its rivals. The industry says Ominimo is pushing the limits, while Polish Insurance Association president Adam Uszpolewicz warns of the consequences of its pricing policy.
An October XYZ article about Ominimo, an insurtech company with Serbian roots, caused a stir in the insurance industry. For the first time, Luka Bucan, head of its Polish branch, spoke openly about the company’s plans and operating model. Some in the industry interpreted his comments as boasting and a provocative challenge to the competence of established players in Poland.
Market practices observed over several months added fuel to the fire. Ominimo’s prices for motor liability policies were sometimes considerably lower than those of competitors. This has raised concerns about the stability and solvency of its model, particularly because policy prices in Poland are already among the lowest in Europe.
Adam Uszpolewicz, president of the Polish Insurance Association (PIU) since May 2026, has decided to speak out. The industry association has long observed the difficult state of Poland’s compulsory motor third-party liability insurance market, commonly known as MTPL. Over the past 15 years, the segment’s profit margin was negative, at −1.9%. The problem is particularly visible among small and medium-sized players — those with less than PLN 1bn in annual gross written premiums — which do not benefit from economies of scale. Their average margin is −9.4%, and in the historically worst years of 2015–2016 it was below −30%.
Motor liability premiums are not keeping pace with claims
Premiums have not kept pace with rising claims payments. The average price of a motor liability policy is PLN 548, while the average claim is already PLN 12,210. In 2016, the market appeared to be returning to healthy growth. But from 2020 onward, claims payments again began to rise much faster than premiums. Since then, the former have increased by 58%, and the latter by 8.5%.
“For years, premiums have not kept pace with rising costs. If we considered only the inflation reported by Statistics Poland since 2016, the average premium today should be PLN 719. In practice, it would be even higher, because claims inflation — driven by the cost of spare parts and labor at auto repair shops — was higher during that period than the index reported for the economy as a whole,” Uszpolewicz explains.
Igor Rusinowski, CEO of multi-agency broker Unilink, makes a similar point. He notes that the average motor liability premium was around PLN 500 in 2000 and is only slightly higher today, 26 years later. In his view, the decline in the frequency of motor claims during that period — the number of claims per 100 policies — was not enough to offset cumulative claims inflation, which amounted to around 150%.
Customers treat motor liability insurance like a tax
The reason for this market mechanism is straightforward: intense competition based on price. The structure of distribution channels in Poland reinforces it, with multi-agency brokers and price comparison websites dominating the market. Because coverage is set by regulation and the policies are compulsory, customers compare prices.
“In many countries where motor liability insurance became compulsory years ago, prices and profitability fell compared with the period before it became mandatory. In Poland, there is also the fact that only slightly more than 25% of drivers choose to buy voluntary comprehensive motor insurance. For 75% of customers, motor insurance is therefore a kind of tax they want to minimize. Hence the constant search for the lowest price, regardless of the channel,” Rusinowski adds.
Motor liability prices in euros are among Europe’s lowest
Customers are much less likely to be guided by their experience with an insurer or the quality of its claims handling. Although a motor liability policy protects the insured driver, it is the injured party who sees how efficiently the insurer settles a claim.
“Competition in Poland is at a level not seen in other markets. If we compare the nominal price of a motor liability policy, we find that only customers in Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia pay less in Europe,” Uszpolewicz says.
Interactive chart With that, he is responding directly to Luka Bucan’s comments. Speaking to XYZ, Bucan said many drivers in Poland pay excessively high premiums at competing insurers. He argues that Ominimo can offer them better prices.
“The article caused quite a stir in the industry. We are talking about a player that is pushing the limits. They sell motor liability policies for PLN 400, and there is talk in the industry that they have set themselves the goal of taking over MTU’s portfolio, which used low prices,” says a representative of one insurer.
“Motor liability rates tens of percent below the competition should raise questions about the sustainability of such a model and the protection of injured parties. Market stability, trust in insurance and people’s willingness to buy insurance are at stake. The economic rationale for such a venture raises serious doubts and concerns,” adds a second manager.
Expert's perspective
The problem affects individual and business customers
Claims inflation makes the situation worse. The cost of repairing modern combustion-engine and electric vehicles — packed with advanced electronics and sensors — is rising much faster than the general inflation rate. The market will not escape this trap without bold premium decisions and extensive implementation of AI and telematics. Both a market correction in rates and a closer link between the price of coverage and a driver’s driving style, as well as claims prevention at companies, are inevitable.
Newer players do not see the full market picture
The PIU president says that, despite low prices, the Polish market remains attractive to foreign players. From time to time, companies enter and try to gain market share quickly by offering the lowest price. Examples include France’s Proama, Denmark’s Gefion and Bulgaria’s DallBogg. Their models did not stand the test of time: the first was acquired by Generali, the second went bankrupt, and the third has been banned from operating in Poland.
“New players entering the Polish market do not have a complete picture of the claims experience of their portfolio. Building that picture requires running the business for at least several years. Today, 50% of insurers’ claims reserves are allocated to annuity payments. These arise from serious accidents and can be paid for several decades, until the end of a person’s life. A new player, meanwhile, may not have to pay any such annuity in its first year of operation. That can distort its perception of the market,” the executive says.
A market too sophisticated for models to make the difference
He argues that a newcomer cannot make up that difference through better risk selection that competitors do not already use. Ominimo says it has the highest proportion of data scientists in the market and that its models and talent allow it to offer customers better prices than its rivals.
“Let us be honest: in this respect, the Polish market is one of the most sophisticated in Europe. It is hard to believe that an outside player can enter the market and offer rates 30–50% lower simply because, as it claims, it has more advanced models and will teach Polish players how it should be done. Every insurer operating in Poland uses dynamic premiums. They change daily depending on various factors,” Uszpolewicz says.
He adds that strong price competition is precisely why Polish insurers are presented within their groups as examples to follow in pricing. Marcin Niewiadek, CEO of Uniqa, made that point in a March interview with XYZ.
Aggressive players force competitors to adjust rates
“Different players have the right to enter the market. As an industry, however, we want to be sure that nobody gets a ‘free lunch’ that the other insurers ultimately pay for, as they did with Gefion. Part of the liability for claims caused by drivers it insured had to be taken over by the guarantee system. It is financed by contributions from the other insurers [the Insurance Guarantee Fund — ed.]. The rest of the market, and indirectly all customers, therefore bore the cost of one insurer’s insolvency,” the PIU president says.
New aggressive players force the market to adjust to their rates, fueling a price war. Moving in the other direction is much harder: the first players to raise prices see an immediate fall in sales. This was evident, for example, in the second quarter of 2026, when Warta — which had overtaken PZU a year earlier to become the motor liability market leader — decided to raise policy prices and its lead over PZU narrowed considerably.
Warta CEO Jarosław Parkot argued in XYZ at the time that the industry should raise premiums by at least 10–15% to meet higher claims payments and avoid record losses on policy sales. The problem is that increases by all players could be considered price fixing, making such a mechanism difficult to implement.
Lack of direct KNF supervision adds to criticism of Ominimo
The prevailing view in the industry is that aggressive competition in motor liability insurance can end in only two ways: price increases become unavoidable, or a player leaves the market under the weight of claims that were not adequately reflected in policy prices.
In Ominimo’s case, criticism is intensified by the fact that, because the company does not have a branch in Poland, it is not under the direct supervision of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). The regulator, meanwhile, has for years pressed the industry to ensure premiums are adequate for the costs incurred. In recent years, Compensa, InterRisk, Agro Ubezpieczenia and TUZ have been fined for shortcomings in this area.
The authority is currently conducting four further proceedings concerning financial penalties over premiums that were not matched to costs and the ability to meet obligations. They involve Link4, PKO TU and TUW “TUW.” The final proceeding follows a request for reconsideration by an entity that has already been penalized.
PIU seeks to draw the regulator’s attention
Ominimo operates as a managing general agent (MGA). It is responsible for product distribution and service, pricing and assessment of insurance risk, and claims handling. Insurance capacity is provided by Germany’s DA Direkt, part of the Swiss Zurich group. This means Germany’s BaFin is formally the supervisor of the business conducted under the Ominimo brand.
“BaFin, of course, looks at premium adequacy, but its picture may be entirely different from ours. DA Direkt operates in many markets. Even if it were making losses on motor liability insurance in Poland, its business in other markets could be profitable,” Uszpolewicz says.
The PIU president adds that the association has already met with the KNF on the matter. It is encouraging the Polish regulator to draw BaFin’s attention to practices in Poland. The aim is to ensure that the entire market has an equal opportunity to compete for customers and that entities do not abuse their position outside local supervision.
The KNF office monitors insurers operating in Poland
Asked about the issue, Jacek Barszczewski, spokesperson for the Office of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (UKNF), said he was not authorized to disclose information about external reports concerning specific entities. He added, however, that the regulator monitors all entities operating on the Polish insurance market, including DA Direkt, which offers insurance under the Ominimo brand.
“One of the basic parameters analyzed is the level of premiums offered. It is not analyzed in isolation from other data, such as information about the portfolio’s structure and the relevant frequency of events. Information about premiums alone, without additional knowledge of the level of risk built into them, would be unreliable. Supervision also covers claims handling, the number of refusals and customer complaints. A complete picture of an entity offering motor liability insurance is built on comprehensive data about the product and how it operates in practice,” he explains in response to our questions.
The UKNF maintains an ongoing dialogue with insurers operating on the Polish market and subject to domestic supervision. It is therefore familiar with the situation of individual entities and their effect on the market. This also applies to entities operating across borders in the European Union. In those cases, the UKNF works with the relevant home-country supervisory authorities, including by sharing information and the conclusions of its analyses.
Limiting price competition would be difficult
The executive believes gradual price increases will begin in the coming years, making the motor liability market sustainably profitable again. For now, investment income — mainly from government bonds — is helping insurers’ technical results. In a period of falling interest rates, however, that income may shrink.
“I think that, as a result of KNF intervention, we will begin to see prices rise. It would be much better for the market if increases were regular and linked to inflation, rather than a 50% rise like the one in 2016, which caused considerable customer dissatisfaction,” our interlocutor says.
Asked how price competition in Poland could be limited, he says it would be extremely difficult. In his view, the market has a structural problem: it is dominated by multi-agency brokers and price comparison websites. The policies of insurers’ shareholders make the situation harder. Many continue to prioritize increasing market share in a promising market rather than focusing on portfolio profitability.
One manager, speaking anonymously, adds that intermediaries also have an important role. In his view, they cannot “wash their hands” of the matter by arguing that the insurer is responsible for the product. An intermediary is part of the market and should critically assess whose offer it sells — especially when an unknown foreign intermediary stands behind a brand and the risk is borne by a foreign insurer with which the policy seller may not even have direct contact.
“The only antidote would be a greater supervisory role”
The problem is gradually being contained by the KNF’s increasing activity in this area. It is here that he sees a significant opportunity to improve the unfavorable situation on the Polish market. That does not mean the problem will not recur. It means any future price wars will last less time and cause smaller losses in the sector.
“The only antidote in the face of very strong competition among insurers in this market appears to be a greater role for supervision. There is potential inspiration from other countries too. There, the supervisory authority uses the broad range of tools at its disposal — mainly analytical ones — to enforce a certain level of motor liability profitability among insurers. In Poland, looking at aggregate sector data, motor liability insurance is profitable. The prevailing view, however, is that this is the result of how insurers manage their reserves,” Rusinowski adds.
KNF reacts with a delay because there is no easy alternative
The KNF’s latest proceedings concern 2023–2025. In October, the office said TUW “TUW” had been included in their scope. Could the regulator conduct proceedings with a shorter delay? That is not straightforward, because there are reasons for the lag.
“First, administrative proceedings take account of financial data that are reported to the supervisory authority with a delay of several months. Second, motor liability insurance is characterized by a long claims-development period. Claims are often reported with a considerable delay. This applies in particular to personal injury claims involving harm to the health or life of injured parties,” Barszczewski explains.
He adds that, to assess premium inadequacy properly, data must be collected for at least a period of more than a year after the end of the year in which the UKNF may find a potential breach of regulations. He notes that a financial loss in a given year does not, by itself, establish that premiums were inadequate.
“A negative financial result can, with a high degree of probability, indicate inadequate premiums. It is often distorted, however, by changes in technical insurance reserves, which may be linked to the development of claims from earlier years. That is why, in addition to claims-development time, the UKNF must take into account distortions to the result caused by changes in reserves for claims from previous years,” the KNF spokesperson says.
What does Ominimo say?
“We do not offer the cheapest insurance, but a fair price for each individual driver”
Insurance is different in one respect, of course. Companies must be able to meet their obligations, including claims that may arise or develop in the future.
But comparisons with Gefion or DallBogg are misplaced. Ominimo operates in Poland in cooperation with DA Direkt, which is wholly owned by Zurich Insurance Group, with the insurance portfolio 100% reinsured by Zurich Insurance Company and Zurich Insurance Europe.
Suggesting that the financial difficulties of niche insurers can somehow be extrapolated to a 150-year-old global insurance group with a market capitalization above USD 100bn and a solvency ratio above 250% is not a serious argument.
We also fully recognize the long-term nature of motor liability insurance, particularly claims involving serious bodily injury and lifetime compensation.
Both Ominimo and Zurich have extensive actuarial and reserving expertise. Our portfolio is subject to rigorous controls, including reserves for both reported claims and those that have not yet been reported. Sustainable underwriting and adequate reserves are the foundation of our business model.
Suggesting that we systematically underprice risk simply because our premiums are lower than those of existing insurers for some customers reflects a misunderstanding of our business model.
Based on our analysis of the Polish market, we believe traditional insurers often underprice higher-risk drivers while overcharging lower-risk ones. As a result, good drivers end up subsidizing bad drivers, which we consider fundamentally unfair.
Our advanced risk-assessment models allow us to identify those lower-risk customers and offer them significantly more competitive premiums. At the same time, we charge considerably higher prices to drivers whose risk profiles justify them. The goal is not to offer the cheapest insurance to everyone, but a fairer price to each driver based on the risk they represent.
As for the suggestion that existing insurers cannot be outperformed by a newcomer in risk assessment or operational efficiency, traditional banks once made similar arguments about Revolut. Innovation has transformed many industries. There is no reason insurance should be an exception.
We do not intend to compete over who has better mathematicians, technology or pricing models. We prefer to let the results speak for themselves.
Key Takeaways
- Poland’s compulsory motor liability insurance market has recorded a negative margin over the past 15 years: −1.9% overall and −9.4% among smaller players. PIU president Adam Uszpolewicz says claims payments have risen by 58% since 2020, while premiums have increased by only 8.5%. The average claim is PLN 12,210, compared with a premium of PLN 548. Taking general inflation into account, he says, the average policy price should now be PLN 719.
- The situation is being intensified by the activities of insurtech Ominimo. The company, which debuted in Poland more than a year ago, offers motor liability insurance at prices as much as 30–40% below those of competitors. As an agent for DA Direkt, it is not directly supervised by the KNF but by Germany’s BaFin. This has drawn objections from the industry, which alleges unequal competition and is seeking to draw the Polish regulator’s attention to the issue.
- While Warta’s Jarosław Parkot has called for rate increases of 10–15%, warning of billions in losses, Ominimo says its models eliminate the subsidizing of bad drivers by good ones. The PIU president warns that new players in Poland do not see the full picture of claims experience, in which as much as 50% of reserves are allocated to long-term annuities.