The insurance customer base

In this article, the social conditions in Denmark will be described, as these are crucial for the insurance industry's market potential and thus its business opportunities. This description will look at the population structure, including the families' income conditions and consumption, as well as the business structure. The population structure Pr. On 1 January 2013, the population in Denmark was a total of 5,605,836 people, with 2,780,576 men and 2,825,260 women. The population has increased by just over 8.5% since 1980, which is partly due to a higher average life expectancy and increased immigration.

The age composition of the population is changing markedly in these years, and due to the higher life expectancy, there are thus more and more older people and thus fewer people in employment. The following table shows the age distribution of the population in 2013 and the movement compared to 2008. Seen with insurance glasses, the population and the age distribution of the population give a good picture of the market potential in personal insurance, while this information does not have the greatest significance in relation to non-life insurance. Here, on the other hand, the number of households is important, as this more describes the number of insurance buyers. This figure was per. January 1, 2013 a total of 2,607,876. There live per. January 1, 2013 an average of 2.15 people in Danish households - a number that has been steadily declining over the past 25 years. During the same period, the number of households increased by 21%, which is primarily due to the fact that there have been significantly more households with one person or two people.

In the following, this will be elucidated in more detail. A family's income will typically consist of a working income in the form of salary as an employee or income from own business. If you are not in work, the income will be payments from unemployment insurance or pension schemes or various forms of retirement benefits from the public sector. Finally, the income can be a capital income in the form of return from a fortune. As an employee, in addition to your salary, you are entitled to holiday pay, ATP contributions and possibly pension contributions. Such a fixed income can be lost if you are fired from your job, become ill or have an accident that causes disability. You can insure against this loss of income by being a member of an unemployment insurance fund or through other insurance schemes of various kinds. Transfer income is the common term for the financial benefits paid by the public sector in addition to or as a substitute for earned income. The most important of these services are the following:

Cash assistance

This benefit is given to persons who are unable to support themselves and their families as a result of unemployment or illness. However, it is a prerequisite for receiving cash benefits that you are not a member of an unemployment insurance fund, do not have assets and do not have a spouse or cohabitant who can support you.

Early retirement

This benefit has so far been given to all persons who have lost their ability to work due to permanent illness or disability, but a reform in this area has brought about significant changes. Now young people under the age of 40 cannot be granted an early retirement pension, unless it is obvious that they can never get a job. Instead, they must be offered a so-called resource course, through which the municipality will develop the individual's ability to work through a holistic and interdisciplinary effort with the aim of helping the person further in life, so that he or she can get a job or an education in the long term. Depending on the situation, people over the age of 40 may also be offered a resource course, but will typically be granted an early retirement pension without this, in particular the so-called senior pension. This can be achieved by people with a long-term and current connection to the labor market, who have a maximum of 5 years until the state pension age.

Early retirement pay

This benefit makes it possible to retire from the labor market at the age of 60. Originally, the scheme was intended as an offer only to persons who, due to their work, had become worn out; but the scheme has today gained more general popularity. The prerequisite for receiving early retirement pay is that you have been a member of an unemployment fund within 30 years, and that you have paid early retirement contributions for a corresponding period. An early retirement reform has led to a number of changes in the previous rules. Everyone born before 1954 still has the opportunity to retire at the age of 60 and receive early retirement for 5 years. The new rules also do not affect the current early retirement pension recipients. For persons born after 1954, the early retirement age from 2014 will be gradually increased from 60 years, so that in 2023 it will be 64 years, at the same time as the early retirement period is gradually shortened from 5 to 3 years. The early retirement age can be higher than 64 years for those born in 1963 or later, because the early retirement and national pension age can be adjusted in relation to life expectancy. If the Danes live longer in the coming decades, the early retirement and national pension age can be raised further.