Latest news with #InsuranceIreland
RTÉ News
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- RTÉ News
Motor insurance costs rose by 9% in first half of last year
The average cost of a motor insurance policy increased by 9% (€49) during the first half of last year, when compared with the first six months in 2023. Latest figures from the Central Bank's National Claims Information Database show that the average premium increased from €567 to €616 over the period. This compares with an average annual premium of €315 across the European Union. Despite the rise, the cost of motor insurance is still around 25% lower than the peak in 2017, but has been steadily rising since 2022. Average premiums fell by 25% between the second half of 2017 and the same period in 2022, however, since then they have increased again by 12%. According to the NCID, between January and June of last year, there were almost 1.2 million new motor insurance policies, which accounted for €729 million in premiums. The figures also show that the proportion of consumers opting for comprehensive insurance cover (as opposed to just third-party cover) continued to increase in H1 2024, making up 93% of all policies and is up from 80% in 2009. Commenting on the figures, Chief Executive of Insurance Ireland Moyagh Murdock said that "although premiums have begun to increase, reflecting the increased cost environment, Irish motor insurance customers have benefitted from significant decreases. "Aside from inflation, there are issues still to be addressed which would take further cost out of the claims environment. The trend of settling claims through the more expensive litigated route continues to add significant cost, despite the fact that it doesn't add to the levels of awards the claimant receives via either the Injuries Resolution Board process or directly settling claims with insurers." Ms Murdock added: "We also note that this is a mid-year report, and we look forward to the full report which will give a broader view, reflecting not just premium costs but also the cost of insurance claims, which have been increasing." Insurance Ireland also said that the Judicial Council's proposed 16.7% increase in the personal injuries guidelines is "concerning as it may erode the progress made by the Government's Insurance Reform agenda". Chief Executive of the Alliance for Insurance Reform Brian Hanley said the "sharp rise" in premiums highlighted in the Central Bank's report will be no surprise to consumers. Mr Hanley added: "Set against this, how can the Government justify taking steps that will drive the cost of people's car insurance even higher? The Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, is currently considering a recommendation from the Judicial Council that personal injury awards be increased by almost 17% in the coming weeks. "Notwithstanding that awards are higher here than in most other countries and the relatively short time the current award guidelines are in existence, if adopted it will lead directly to even greater increases in policyholder premiums. Motorists, businesses, sporting, community and voluntary groups simply cannot afford for this to happen."
The Independent
11-02-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
I want to know if insurers are not ‘playing fair' on storm payouts
A junior minister has said he wants to hear about incidents where insurers are not 'playing fair' with claims relating to Storm Eowyn. Minister of State at the Department of Finance Robert Troy said he expects over 20,000 claims to be placed with insurance companies relating to Storm Eowyn, worth an estimated 200 million euro. By the end of January, 14,099 claims worth 116 million euro had been submitted, he said. Of these, 70% were home, 23% were commercial and 7% were motor claims. 'That figure will easily rise to in excess of 20,000 (claims) and with the projected claims of 200 million,' he told RTE's Drivetime. 'This is the largest wind event of the last 20 years and, as a consequence of that, the compensation will be one of the largest in the last 20 years also.' He said that all standard policies do include storm damage cover and encouraged people to submit claims. 'If insurance companies are not playing fair with their customers well I'd like to hear about it because that's the reason why I met with Insurance Ireland last week, to ensure that they are playing fair with people.' The arrival of Storm Eowyn prompted a nationwide red-level weather warning and saw record-breaking winds and over a million households' power cut on the island of Ireland. Days after the storm, thousands of homes, businesses and farms remained without power and water as crews were under pressure to restore widespread outages. On Tuesday, the ESB said it had restored power to over 768,000 homes, schools, and businesses, 19 days after Storm Eowyn hit, and that the remaining affected customers will have their power restored overnight. 'Given the extensive damage to the electricity network and the volume of repairs completed, we are asking that if customers have not previously reported loss of power to please contact us on 1800 372 999,' it said. 'The public should remain vigilant to the possibility of unidentified low hanging wires and should these be encountered, please keep away and report them to us immediately.' Senior government figures have admitted that the State needs to be better prepared for more frequent and powerful storms. Asked about whether home insurance premiums would increase to cover the millions of euro in damage caused by Storm Eowyn, Mr Troy said he 'would sympathise and partly agree' with that view. Mr Troy who is responsible for financial services, credit unions and insurance, also said that he was 'disappointed' that there have not been greater reductions in insurance premiums in recent years, despite reforms being introduced. 'I for one am disappointed that there hasn't been a greater reduction in premiums over the last number of years. 'Motor premiums, insurance premiums for the large part have remained stable or have reduced marginally, that's not good enough and that's one of the reasons why I was meeting Insurance Ireland in the last week and why I'll be meeting each of the insurance companies over the coming weeks.' He added: 'We want to see the insurance companies live up to their commitments, that they had requested reforms a number of years ago, those reforms were delivered. 'We now want to see the insurance companies follow through on their commitment to reduce premiums for their customers.'
