kolkata the high proportion of imported components in small cars is denting profits of motor insurance companies with their claims ratio rising to 70 from 40 in the past two yearsgeneral insurers who face huge losses in their motor insurance portfolio because of accidents and thirdparty cover say replacing damaged imported parts in vehicles is a costly affairclaims ratio is the amount an insurer pays as claim on every 100 of premium it earns car sales in india grew at record levels near 30 in the last two fiscals which also saw automobile companies aggressively push into the below 5lakh category with new car launches our data shows the average claim in the passenger car segment has increased from rs 800010000 to rs 1000015000 in the last three years this has started to eat into the profitability of insurers vijay kumar president and head of motor insurance at bajaj allianz general insurance told reporters in kolkata bajaj is the countrys thirdlargest insurer in terms of own damage cover which insures a policyholders vehicle the percentage of imported parts in the small cars of manufacturers such as volkswagon chevrolet toyota and general motors was high which was pushing up replacement cost consequentially renewal premiums are also on the rise said a senior insurance officialthere could be instances where an individual needs to shell out premiums that are higher in absolute terms than the previous years higher the claims higher would be the renewal premiums kumar saida senior bajaj allianz official said insurance premiums are a factor of the price of the car as competition in the smallcar segment hots up manufacturers are adopting aggressive pricing strategies to capture the market it has resulted in low premium income on account of competitive prices but high claims ratio as replacement costs are high