BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The insurance industry expects rising revenues from motor and home insurance this year. "On the one hand, there should be more new registrations again as supply chains ease," said Norbert Rollinger, president of the German Insurance Association (GDV), in Berlin on Thursday, referring to the car market. "On the other hand, rising spare parts prices and workshop costs will lead to higher claims expenses." For consumers, that means it's getting more expensive. Already at the turn of the year, many motor insurers are likely to have increased premiums.

That also applies to homeowners insurance, he said, where rising material and craftsman costs are also causing insurance benefits to rise. "Even if the construction industry cools down, we expect the bottom line here to be a 16 percent increase in premiums," Rollinger said.

Across all insurance types, the association expects premium growth of around three percent for the current year. Uncertainties for the industry arise above all in life insurance. It is true that this type of retirement provision is becoming more attractive again for many people due to rising interest rates. At the same time, "the increased cost of living due to inflation means that many people are investing less money in their old-age provision," said Rollinger.

The association also presented its concept for reforming private pension plans on Thursday. "We still believe that Riester can be reformed," the GDV president stressed. "But we also have the offer for a new start in the bag: the citizens' pension." Under the proposal, the state would subsidize every euro paid in by the insured up to a ceiling with a 50-cent subsidy.

Unlike the Riester pension, a high level of standardization in the citizens' pension would save on costly bureaucracy. "And, of course, the products could also be distributed digitally," said Rollinger./maa/DP/stw