Meritz Fire posts biggest market share gain; Hanwha General Insurance breaks 10% barrier in protection insurance

Meritz Fire and Hanwha General Insurance are drawing attention for expanding their market share in the fiercely competitive protection insurance segment of the non-life insurance industry. Under the new IFRS 17 accounting standard, protection insurance is the primary vehicle for building contractual service margin, or CSM — a key indicator of future profitability. Because such policies carry long coverage periods and generate stable cash flows, they represent the most coveted battleground for non-life insurers. The two companies have been carving out their positions through markedly different strategies.

According to industry sources, Meritz Fire's first-quarter market share in protection insurance reached 16.2%, rising more than 4 percentage points from a year earlier — the largest gain among major non-life insurers. Hanwha General Insurance recorded 11.21%, crossing the double-digit threshold the industry had long called an impenetrable barrier. Its two-year gain of 3.7 percentage points was also the steepest in the sector, placing it alongside Meritz Fire as one of the fastest-growing players.

Meritz Fire grew its share by prioritizing profitability over new-contract volume. As a result, average monthly protection personal insurance sales in the first quarter rose 21 percent year on year to 11.4 billion won (about $8.2 million). By distribution channel, general agencies accounted for the largest share at 56.6 percent, followed by exclusive agents at 31.8 percent and telemarketing at 11.6 percent.

New long-term personal insurance contracts through general agencies were particularly strong, growing 30 percent year on year and far outpacing the market average. Meritz Fire said its expanding foothold in the general agency channel "is not a temporary windfall but the result of adhering to principles, now being validated as the market normalizes," adding that it views the trend as sustainable.

Hanwha General Insurance broadened its reach through products tailored to women and senior customers. By targeting high-value customer segments rather than competing in the crowded standard long-term insurance market, the company saw its share of new protection insurance contracts jump 82 percent year on year in the first quarter. Its "Signature Women's Health Insurance 4.0," launched in January, secured a one-year exclusive-use right — the first in the long-term non-life insurance sector — for a pregnancy support rider, staking out a differentiated market position. Buoyed by that momentum, the company's first-quarter CSM grew to 4.2802 trillion won.

The general agency channel also contributed to the gains. Monthly annualized first-year premiums for protection personal insurance through general agencies reached 14.333 billion won, giving the company a 12.9 percent market share and placing it fifth in the industry. A Hanwha General Insurance official said the company would "solidify its differentiation through linked marketing of its flagship women's health insurance and children's insurance products, and pursue both profitability and stable market share through a strategy centered on high-value products."

The two companies' market share advances signal a broader shift in protection insurance competition — away from a race for volume and toward profitability and product quality. In the second half of the year, major regulatory changes take effect, including the transition of certain treatments to managed-care reimbursement in July and the introduction of fifth-generation actual-loss insurance. The success or failure of these differentiated strategies is then expected to reshape the competitive landscape among non-life insurers.