The lofty words about the scandal of ever increasing insurance premiums are useless without firm action that people notice in their pockets.
My Sinn Féin colleague, Pearse Doherty, and I recently questioned insurance bosses on the real reason for massive hikes in premiums at the Oireachtas Finance Committee.
One of the core recommendations of the Finance Committee report on the cost of insurance was that a specialist unit of An Garda Síochána be established to tackle insurance fraud. This has not yet happened. Insurance companies are placing all of the blame on fraudulent claims and the associated compensation payments as the real reason for rising premiums. The recently released Courts Service Annual Report completely undermines the excuses for high premiums from insurance companies.
The report shows a decrease in the number of personal injury claims and a decrease in the value of compensation awards despite claims to the contrary from insurance companies. Someone is not telling the truth. We have never made progress in insurance matters through voluntary guidelines. We need the necessary legislation in force as soon as possible.
We also learned that some insurance companies are using previous losses to write off against their corporation tax liability. This will come as a shock to many customers who have struggled to keep up with their own premium repayments.
Insurance customers are also being left in the dark by their own providers. If a claim is made against a customer, they should be told about it and kept updated on its progress. It is unacceptable that the insurance companies don’t have to do this already.
Sinn Féin will continue to pressure the Government to act decisively where it is obvious that customers are being ripped off. Week after week, more evidence emerges that this is exactly what is happening with the insurance industry.
