In an interview for Telegraph on November 7, 2025, Nikolay Stanchev, Chairman of the Association of Bulgarian Insurers (ABZ), outlined the main trends in the development of the insurance sector and commented on current topics such as the implementation of the “bonus-malus” system and regulatory changes related to electric scooters.
The insurance market in Bulgaria continues to grow at a steady pace while maintaining its structure, Stanchev said in the interview. Motor insurance remains dominant, accounting for over 70% of total non-life insurance. “Casco” premiums continue to grow at a rate of around 16% in the first quarter of the year, mainly influenced by external factors such as rising prices of spare parts and repair services.
The property insurance segment is developing at a moderate pace, while health insurance remains the most dynamic segment, recording a 21% increase in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The main driver behind this trend is the growing medical inflation in recent years. “Medical service prices are rising by double digits, which logically leads to an increase in the compensations paid by insurers,” Stanchev noted.
Life insurance also reports stable growth of 11% in the first quarter. Although market penetration remains relatively low, this segment has great potential for further expansion. Agricultural insurance shows an even clearer upward trend — in 2025, the market recorded significant growth, mainly due to the new financing scheme through the State Fund “Agriculture,” which covers 70% of the premium. “Until last year, co-financing ranged between 30–40%, depending on the crop, but the increased state support has sparked strong interest in this type of insurance,” the ABZ Chairman explained.
The MTPL insurance market has remained stable and resilient in recent years. After some fluctuations before 2022, it has now reached a balance. Despite increased costs for spare parts, repair services, and general inflation, price levels remain steady. This stability is largely due to strong competition among insurers and the large market volume, which accounts for over 40% of total non-life premium income. Companies carefully consider all economic and market factors when forming their prices.
Stanchev explained that most insurers have already been applying their own bonus-malus mechanisms when setting insurance terms. What’s new in the recent amendments to the Insurance Code is that insurers will now use not only their own data but also information on vehicle damages across the entire market. Thus, insurers will have access to the complete damage history of each vehicle through the Guarantee Fund’s register.
Access to this information will be ensured after the Financial Supervision Commission adopts a regulation defining the procedures and conditions for the connection between the systems of the Guarantee Fund and the insurers. After that, companies will be able to adapt their internal systems and apply the bonus-malus mechanism based on the register data.
Each insurer will be entitled to use its own methodology for applying the bonus-malus system. According to Stanchev, this process will not take long, as most companies already have internal models that can easily be adapted to the new data.
Regarding insurance for electric scooters, Stanchev emphasized that the topic is complex and requires further clarification — discussions on this have already been held with the responsible institutions. In order to create real conditions for offering such insurance, a unified and effective registration regime must be introduced, allowing individual identification of each scooter as an insurable object.
Currently, the Road Traffic Act contains only one reference to the Insurance Code, which provides the possibility of concluding MTPL insurance for scooters. In practice, however, this insurance is designed for motor vehicles and is subject to much stricter requirements that are not applicable to scooters — for example, issuing an international “Green Card” and mandatory windshield stickers.
Stanchev pointed out that the law’s provision allowing each municipality to organize its own scooter registration is not an effective approach. “It is more logical to have a unified or centralized system in which each scooter receives a registration number. Only in this way can identification and traceability of insurance coverage be ensured,” the ABZ Chairman clarified. As for the control over the presence of valid insurance, Stanchev noted that this is an essential issue that remains to be further clarified by the competent institutions so that the future regime can be implemented effectively in practice.
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