The auto insurance sector, serving as the fundamental business for property and casualty insurers, acts as a core pillar for premium scale and a key variable influencing business structure and profitability levels.

According to statistics, as of now, a total of 69 P&C insurance companies have disclosed their auto insurance written premiums and average premiums per vehicle for the first quarter of 2026.

Regarding auto insurance written premiums, significant divergence exists among companies. The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited (PICC), Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd., and China Pacific Property Insurance Co., Ltd. (CPIC) maintain their positions as the top three. The top 10 P&C insurers captured nearly ninety percent of the market, intensifying the Matthew effect.

In terms of average premiums per vehicle, the industry also exhibits a clear hierarchical structure, with most traditional small and medium-sized insurers clustering in the 800 to 1,500 yuan range.

This article analyzes and summarizes the overall performance and development trends of P&C insurers in the first quarter of 2026, examining dimensions such as auto insurance written premiums and the premium rankings of average premiums per vehicle.

**1. Auto Insurance Written Premiums: Top 10 Insurers Capture Nearly 90%, Matthew Effect Intensifies**

From the perspective of written premiums, the industry shows a pronounced characteristic of concentration at the top. The total auto insurance written premiums for the 69 P&C companies in Q1 2026 amounted to 225.083 billion yuan. The top ten insurers by written premiums collectively secured 200.4 billion yuan, accounting for 89.03% of the total for the 69 companies, approaching ninety percent.

**Ranking of Auto Insurance Written Premiums for 69 P&C Companies in Q1 2026** (Note: Actual written premiums were 34,000 yuan for Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, -24,600 yuan for Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, and 280,000 yuan for BNP Paribas Tianxing Property & Casualty Insurance.)

Specifically, the top five rankings are held by PICC (71.688 billion yuan in written premiums), Ping An P&C (56.664 billion yuan), CPIC (26.857 billion yuan), China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. (15.675 billion yuan), and China United Property Insurance Co., Ltd. (7.323 billion yuan).

It is evident that the leading structure of the auto insurance industry remains stable, with PICC, Ping An P&C, and CPIC continuing to firmly occupy the top three positions.

Notably, among the top ten insurers, only Taiping General Insurance Co., Ltd. and Shenneng Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. achieved positive growth, with slight increases of 0.13% and 1.11%, respectively. Other leading insurers showed varying degrees of negative growth, with CPIC declining by 5.58% year-on-year, indicating ongoing business structure adjustments.

Analyzing the distribution by written premium ranges, only four companies—PICC, Ping An, CPIC, and China Life P&C—had written premiums exceeding 10 billion yuan in Q1, consistent with the same period last year.

Twelve companies, including China Continent Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., Sunshine Property and Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., Shenneng P&C, and Dajia Insurance Co., Ltd., fell within the 1 billion to 10 billion yuan range, constituting the industry's second tier.

Fifty-three companies had written premiums below 1 billion yuan, two fewer than the same period last year. Among these are insurers whose premiums did not surpass 100 million yuan, such as Fubon Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., Rongsheng Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., CCB Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., and Soochow Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd.

Compared to the same period last year, the 1-10 billion yuan premium range added two companies in Q1 this year: Taikang Online Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. and AXA Tianping P&C Insurance Co., Ltd., with written premiums of 1.028 billion yuan and 1.011 billion yuan, respectively.

Regarding the growth rate of auto insurance written premiums, among the 69 P&C companies, excluding six companies (Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Soochow P&C, Jiulong Property Insurance, Nipponkoa Insurance, BNP Paribas Tianxing P&C, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance) with no comparable data for the same period in 2025, a total of 33 P&C companies achieved year-on-year growth in average premiums per vehicle, one remained unchanged, and 29 experienced declines.

Looking at the distribution of growth rates among the 33 companies, 17 (51.51%) had growth rates in the "0-10%" range; 9 (27.27%) were in the "10%-20%" range; 2 (6.06%) were in the "20%-30%" range; 4 (12.12%) were in the "30%-50%" range; and 1 (30.30%) had a growth rate exceeding 50%.

Overall, companies with the largest year-on-year growth in auto insurance written premiums are primarily concentrated among small and medium-sized insurers.

Rongtong Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. led with a 200% increase, its written premiums rising significantly from 1 million yuan in the same period last year to 3 million yuan, though the overall premium scale remains small. Everest Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. and JD.com Allianz Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. followed, with written premium increases of 47.20% and 42.06%, respectively.

It is not difficult to see that companies with leading growth rates are mostly small and medium-sized or specialized P&C insurers. They inherently have a smaller premium base, offering greater room for growth, and have achieved sudden prominence by benefiting from strategic layouts in regional or niche markets.

Examining the distribution of decline rates among the 29 companies, 19 (65.51%) saw declines in the "-5% to 0" range; 4 (13.79%) were in the "-10% to -5%" range; 5 (17.24%) were in the "-20% to -10%" range; and 1 (3.44%) had a decline exceeding "-20%".

Specifically, BYD Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. topped the list with a decline of -30.53%, its written premiums dropping from 750 million yuan in the same period last year to 521 million yuan. Behind this, aside from the impact of declining sales of new BYD vehicles, a significant reason is the adjustment in pricing strategy, leading to an overall decrease in written premiums.

Furthermore, companies like Fubon P&C (-16.67%) and Jintai Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. (-18.33%) also experienced substantial declines in written premiums.

**2. Average Premiums Per Vehicle: Specialized & Foreign Insurers "Most Expensive", Over Half See Year-on-Year Decline**

The average premium per vehicle is a crucial metric for measuring client structure, risk pricing strategy, and business quality. In Q1 2026, the stratification of average premiums among the 69 P&C companies was evident, with most companies experiencing a year-on-year decline.

**Ranking of Average Premiums Per Vehicle for 69 P&C Companies in Q1 2026**

Specifically, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance ranked first with a high average premium of 8,700 yuan. Jiulong Property Insurance followed closely at 8,174.27 yuan, and the newly established BNP Paribas Tianxing P&C placed third at 5,594.15 yuan. Hyundai Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. and Nipponkoa Insurance ranked fourth and fifth with 5,400 yuan and 3,751.3 yuan, respectively.

It is notable that among the top five P&C companies, except for Jiulong Property Insurance, all are foreign-funded or joint-venture insurers.

Companies ranked sixth to tenth had average premiums ranging between 2,800 yuan and 3,500 yuan, maintaining a relatively high overall level.

It is worth mentioning that among the top ten, excluding Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Jiulong Property Insurance, and BNP Paribas Tianxing P&C (three companies with no comparable data), only Dinghe Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. achieved year-on-year growth. The company with the largest decline in this metric saw its average premium drop by over 30% year-on-year.

Looking at P&C companies with average premiums at the lower end of the industry. Apart from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, the three companies with the lowest rankings were Xin'an Automobile Insurance Co., Ltd., Groupama Insurance Company, and Dubang Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd., with average premiums of 540.09 yuan, 800 yuan, and 850 yuan, respectively.

These companies are mostly regional, specialized, or small and medium-sized insurers, whose business positioning leans more towards economical customer segments, with more flexible pricing strategies. Meanwhile, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance is the only company with a negative average premium. Its solvency report for Q1 this year explicitly stated the reason: the company suspended direct auto insurance business from January 1, 2026, resulting in no new policy premiums, only remaining policy cancellation operations.

In terms of the distribution of average premium ranges, Q1 2026 remained largely consistent with the same period last year, showing a relatively stable structure.

Thirty-eight P&C companies had average premiums distributed in the "1,000 yuan – 2,000 yuan" range, one more than the 37 in the same period of 2025, accounting for over half of the total. This includes Shenneng P&C, Sunshine P&C, Generali China Insurance Co., Ltd., and Liberty Insurance Co., Ltd.

Fifteen companies fell within the "2,000 yuan – 3,000 yuan" range, unchanged from the same period in 2025, accounting for 21.73% of the total, including Cathay Insurance Co., Ltd., China Life P&C, Samsung Property & Casualty Insurance (China) Co., Ltd., and PICC.

In contrast, significant fluctuations occurred at the top of the list. The number of companies in the "5,000 yuan – 10,000 yuan" average premium range increased from one in the same period last year to four. The newly added companies are Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Jiulong Property Insurance, and BNP Paribas Tianxing P&C.

Overall, average premiums are primarily distributed within the "1,000 yuan – 2,000 yuan" and "2,000 yuan – 3,000 yuan" ranges, showing a trend of further convergence towards the middle segment.

Regarding growth trends, excluding four companies (Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Jiulong Property Insurance, BNP Paribas Tianxing P&C, Soochow P&C) with no comparable data for the same period in 2025, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance with anomalous data, a total of 19 P&C companies achieved year-on-year growth in average premiums per vehicle, 4 remained unchanged, and 41 experienced declines.

Among the 19 companies with growth, 14 (73.68%) had growth rates in the "0-10%" range; 3 (15.78%) were in the "10%-20%" range; and 2 (10.52%) were in the "20%-30%" range. No companies were in the "30%-50%" range.

Specifically, China Coal Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. led with a 22.22% increase, its average premium rising significantly from 900 yuan in the same period last year to 1,100 yuan. Guoren Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. and Dinghe P&C followed, with average premium increases of 20.84% and 17.56%, respectively.

It is evident that the top three in terms of growth rate are all small and medium-sized insurers, and their relatively low base for average premiums is a significant factor influencing the growth rate.

Examining the distribution of decline rates among the 41 companies, 20 (48.78%) saw declines in the "-5% to 0" range; 10 (24.39%) were in the "-10% to -5%" range; 9 (21.95%) were in the "-20% to -10%" range; and 2 (4.87%) had declines exceeding "-20%".

At the company level, aside from Cathay Insurance, which had the largest decline (average premium dropping from 4,244 yuan to 2,966 yuan), ten companies including Bohai Property Insurance Co., Ltd. (-16.21%), Nipponkoa Insurance (-17.66%), Groupama Insurance (-11.11%), and JD.com Allianz P&C (-20.37%) experienced double-digit year-on-year declines.

In summary, the overall level of average premiums per vehicle in Q1 2026 was relatively low, with a clear downward trend year-on-year. This is attributed, on one hand, to a significant decline in new vehicle sales, lowering the insurance base. On the other hand, the ongoing deepening of comprehensive auto insurance reform has notably reduced premiums for high-quality customers. Simultaneously, under new pricing mechanisms and innovative models, premiums for new energy vehicle (NEV) insurance are generally showing a significant downward trend. The combined effect of these factors has led to an overall decline in average premiums.

**3. Will Industry Divergence Continue to Widen, with Competition for Existing Business Becoming the Main Theme?**

Based on the Q1 2026 data for auto insurance written premiums and average premiums per vehicle, combined with changes in policy and market environment, we offer two major predictions for the development trends of the auto insurance market throughout 2026:

First, competition for existing business will become the industry's main theme, with service capability becoming the key to success.

Data released by the National Financial Regulatory Administration shows that in Q1 2026, auto insurance premiums for P&C companies saw a slight year-on-year decrease of 0.4% to 222.6 billion yuan, primarily related to pressure on new vehicle sales.

The continued slowdown in new vehicle sales also suggests the auto insurance industry may enter an era of competition for existing business. Competition among insurers will shift from "grabbing incremental business" to "competing for existing business," further intensifying market competition. For small and medium-sized insurers, excelling in professional, scenario-based, and ecosystem-oriented service capabilities will be crucial to securing a place in the fierce market competition.

Second, the reconstruction of NEV insurance pricing and risk control systems will continue to widen industry divergence.

In April 2026, new regulations for NEV insurance optimized and adjusted core aspects such as commercial auto insurance independent pricing, coverage for the three electric systems, and separate insurance for vehicles and batteries, truly implementing rewards for good performance and penalties for poor performance.

The implementation of the new regulations sets higher thresholds for insurers in terms of data, technology, and costs. Leading insurers, leveraging their advantages, are expected to achieve profitability first. In contrast, small and medium-sized insurers lacking core capabilities will face greater challenges, accelerating industry divergence.