Hanwha General shields profits from indemnity claim pressure

The insurer remained South Korea’s sixth-largest non-life carrier with an estimated 7% share.

Double-digit growth in long-term insurance revenue helped South Korea’s Hanwha General Insurance Company Limited (HGI) maintain steady performance in 2025, even as rising medical indemnity claims and market competition squeezed sector-wide profitability. 

Steady investment income also helped underpin the insurer's overall bottom line, according to an AM Best research note.

HGI holds approximately 7% of the market based on gross insurance service revenue in 2025, making it the sixth-largest non-life insurer in South Korea. 

The company operates a broad distribution network, including Hanwha Life Financial Services, a sales subsidiary of its parent company, Hanwha Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

HGI's balance sheet remains strong, with risk-adjusted capitalisation at the highest level under Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio. 

Although capital and surplus fell moderately at year-end 2025 due to interest rate movements and regulatory discount rate cuts, HGI took steps to manage solvency through subordinated bond issuances, asset-liability adjustments, and reinsurance. 

Following a bond issuance in 2025, adjusted debt leverage rose to 22.9%, though coverage ratios remain sound.

For 2025, HGI achieved a consolidated return-on-equity of 10.3% and an IFRS 17 net combined ratio of 96.2%, supported by its strong risk management and neutral business profile.