The cost of insurance in Ireland

​Every day, in all our lives, the cost of Insurance is spiralling out of control. There are three major problems in the system, as far as I can see. The number one problem I see is the government, number two is the greed driven by multinational insurance companies, and number three is certain swathes of the population gripped by injury (or not) compensation culture.  

I’ll start with the government. Every government over the last thirty years have promised to take the insurance groups to heel but each time the industry is hauled in to account for the high cost of insurance, they put forward the extortionist costs of the legal system in Ireland, and the number and value of claims increasing.  

Secondly, the insurance companies never open up the books to show the losses and profits each year, like some other service providers. So, please Mr. Varadkar, bring forward legislation to change what is happening to our 18 to 25-year old, first time drivers, who are being quoted between four and six-and-half thousand euros per year for insurance.  

Third on my list are the 3,000 whiplash cases in Ireland in the first six months of 2018, with an average claim of twenty thousand euro. In the UK the cap payable for this injury is four thousand pounds. The question must be asked, if in one year we can reach almost six thousand claims, could they all possibly be real?  

Solicitors and their ilk explain that they must accept claims as valid, because a claimant will arrive, make a statement, produce a medical certificate from a doctor, and be willing to wait one to five years for compensation while paying for their own recovery. As far as I can gather, there has only been one case of fraud in such a case over the last fourteen years, in which a conviction has been secured, so, maybe judges, barristers, and solicitors should throw the book of quantum in the fire before our pubs, hotels, community halls, street festivals, and parades have to be curtailed because of the cost of public liability renewals.