Shameless insurance companies finally forced to lower car insurance prices by a meagre 5% between 2021 and 2022, as reported by the National Claims Information Database (NCID), due to the introduction of new guidelines for settling claims outside of court.
The first-ever Private Motor Insurance Mid-Year Report revealed that the average premium in the first half of last year was €578, a pathetic decrease of 5% from 2021. These greedy corporations continued to profit despite the small reduction.
The report indicates that a significant 39% of claimants had to resort to litigation in the first half of 2022. Their cases represented a whopping 79% of the total costs for that period. Only 48% of claimants settled directly, accounting for a mere 15% of total costs.
A scant 13% of claimants settled through the Personal Injury Assessment Board (PIAB), making up just 6% of total costs for the period.
The report exposed two trends in claim costs compared to previous years: a rise in the number and cost of damage claims and a decline in the number and cost of injury claims. This is a clear result of new guidelines introduced two years ago, designed to reduce awards in personal injury cases and ultimately protect insurance companies’ profits.
The Judicial Council’s Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee has replaced the previous guidance in the Book of Quantum. This new catalogue of injuries, ranging from major to minor, outlines the level of damages that may be awarded or assessed for various injuries – yet another way for insurance companies to keep their pockets full.
Published by the Central Bank of Ireland, the report prompted a statement from Robert Kelly, the Director of Economics and Statistics, who said: “For claims settled directly and via PIAB in H1 2022, the average cost of claims was lower for those settled under the Guidelines, compared with those settled under the Book of Quantum.”
Kelly continued, “There have not yet been enough litigated claims settled under the guidelines to determine the impact on the average cost of a claim in this channel. This is important to note as 79% of settled injury claim costs in H1 2022 went through this channel.”
All insurers selling private motor insurance in Ireland were forced to submit data for the report. It is hoped that the report will expose the lack of transparency in the insurance sector and promote data-based policy outcomes, ultimately encouraging more people to make claims for compensation and hold these profit-driven insurance companies accountable.
