Insurance companies reaching peak profits new report shows
Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has described today’s publication of the National Claims Information Database as a shocking indictment of the insurance industry and has criticised the Government for peddling the misinformation campaign of the insurance industry.
The report by the Central Bank shows, beyond doubt, that motor insurance premiums have gone up every year since 2013 by a staggering 62 percent. In addition to this the report has found that in the past decade the cost of claims per policy has gone down by more than 2 percent while the number of claims made has gone down by 40 percent.
Teachta Doherty said:
“Today’s publication of the National Claims Information Database is a damning indictment of the insurance industry and the campaign of disinformation it has been waging for the past number of years. It should also serve as a wake-up call to the Government and Fianna Fáil, who have been the first to peddle the lines fed by the insurance industry.
“Today we have the facts in black and white.
“Since 2009, the cost of claims per insurance policy has gone down by over 2 percent. At the same time the average motor insurance premium has gone up by a staggering 42 percent.
“In fact, since 2009 the total number of claims made has gone down by 42 percent, with injury claims falling by 20 percent.
“While this report shows that the average cost of a personal injury claim is higher than it was in the past, which is why we facilitated the passage of the Judicial Council Act, the number of claims made has gone down.
“The ‘compo-culture’ line trotted by the industry was a convenient story to cover its own price-gouging activities. That line does not stand up to scrutiny.
“The report also shows that the price of the average motor insurance premium has increased by a staggering 62 percent since 2013, increasing every year.
“On 13th November in the Dáil, when challenging the Government on the practices of the industry, Minister D’Arcy claimed that the average motor insurance costs had gone down from their peak. That day the Minister said it was important that we accept the facts.
“The facts now speak for themselves and the Minister should correct the public record.
“They also show that operating profit of the motor insurance industry in 2018 was nine percent. It is worth noting that in Britain the insurance industry reached a profit high of less than six percent in the last year.
“The National Claims Information Database confirms what we in Sinn Féin have been saying for some time.
“The Irish insurance industry is highly profitable and highly dishonest. They have waged a public disinformation campaign that flies in the face of the facts. Cost of claims to the industry has gone down while the premiums paid by consumers has sky-rocketed, increasing every year.
“We know that insurance companies are using practices such as dual pricing to overcharge existing customers.
“I am calling on the Government and Fianna Fáil to stop defending the industry and repeating their spin.
“Sinn Féin has repeatedly held the industry to account for misinforming the public and ripping off their consumer. Only Sinn Féin can be trusted to take them on and end the insurance rip-off.”
