Skip to content

News

Key actions required to ensure insurance reform – Alliance for Insurance Reform

The Alliance for Insurance Reform has said the insurance crisis can be sorted in 2021 if key actions are completed.

Eoin McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s of Galway and director of the Alliance said nothing the Government has done so far has applied any downward pressure on insurance premiums.

The Alliance said insurance has been unsustainably expensive for 5 years for charities, community and voluntary groups, sports and cultural organisations and SMEs. 

“If Government expects Ireland to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic through SMEs, or for Irish society as a whole to recover through voluntary and community groups, then insurance must and can be sorted in 2021.”

In recent years, there have been the Oireachtas Finance Committee Report on Insurance Costs, two Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) reports and 11 CIWG Updates; the reports of the Personal Injuries Commission, two National Claims Information Database reports from the Central Bank, the CCPC Market Study on Liability Insurance and the Government’s Action Plan on Insurance Reform. 

Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance said it is abundantly clear from these reports is that if insurance costs are to be brought under control, there are 5 key issues that must be actioned this year:

  1. General damages for minor injuries must be dramatically reduced to reflect international norms and norms already established by the Court of Appeal.
  2. Redefine and re-balance the “common duty of care” to require occupiers to take a duty of care that is reasonable, practical and proportionate.
  3. Establish a formal Garda response to insurance fraud
  4. Reform of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board
  5. Produce a schedule of forecast reductions for reforms

“There are 66 actions in the Government’s Action Plan on Insurance Reform, but unless these 5 issues are addressed this year, then 2021 will go down as the year insurance could have been sorted, but wasn’t,” Mr Boland said.

Article Source: Key actions required to ensure insurance reform – Alliance for Insurance Reform – RTE

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000