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A PROTEST TOOK place in Dublin city centre today over the spiralling cost of Irish motor insurance.
It’s an issue that greatly affects young drivers in particular, with stories of young men in their early 20s being asked to pay anything between €6,000 and €14,000 for an annual premium par for the course.
But at this stage the issue of premium-costs affects all drivers.
Thousands of people were expected to take part in today’s protest, organised by motoring magazine Ireland Underground, but the turnout was much smaller than predicted.
The protest began at 2pm at Merrion Square.
But what is the state of play with car premiums? Why are they spiralling to such an extent?
Young drivers
Traditionally, insurance costs have tended to be higher for younger drivers (and male drivers in particular) as they represented a higher risk of reckless behaviour.
But in recent times, annual hikes have become familiar for all drivers, not just the younger ones.
In the last year, more than a third of Irish drivers have seen their insurance rise by up to 50%, with people consequently driving with reduced levels of insurance in an attempt to manage costs.
The industry here has previously defended itself saying that higher claim payouts in recent years have necessitated premium hikes in order to balance the books.
However, recently this fact was seemingly debunked by Fianna Fáil finance spokesman (and Cork TD) Michael McGrath.
In an answer to a parliamentary question submitted by McGrath, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan outlined the fact that claims have in fact been decreasing across Ireland since 2011.
In his written response, Noonan said the figures relating to 2015 are still being compiled.
However, the available figures showed insurance companies paid out €1.01 billion in 2014. This is less than the €1.5 billion paid out in 2011 and €1.06 billion paid in 2012. Just over €987 million was paid out in 2013.
McGrath said the figures show the amount paid out in claims in 2014 was 36% less than the amount paid out in 2011.
Of perhaps even more relevance is a case that came before the Court of Appeal here in March.
The judgement in that case ruled that Ireland’s insurance sector is liable for the costs of Setanta Insurance, which collapsed last year with roughly 1,750 claims outstanding (about €90 million worth). As you might expect having to cover those losses is seeing the losses passed onto drivers’ premiums.
Protest
Today’s protest is aimed more at stimulating a response from the government, organiser Kian Griffin tells TheJournal.ie.
Following McGrath’s revelations last month, the Fianna Fáil TD had a motion passed in the Dáil calling for the re-establishment of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board on a time-limited basis.
Click here to view a larger image
Griffin (who gave his input regarding McGrath’s motion) sees this as the first step.
“We’re not specifically targeting insurers,” he says.
Primarily we’re looking to the government to do something about this.
We’ve already got a bit of movement through Deputy McGrath, with whom we’re in complete agreement.
Griffin agrees that, should today’s protest really attract 6,000 cars (which would probably mean an attendance of 15,000 people), the chaos caused around Dublin city centre on a weekend should be enough to get the movement’s concerns regarding premiums noticed.
Gardaí have confirmed that traffic and parking restrictions have been in place since yesterday evening incidentally. Again, it probably goes without saying, but Dublin city centre is going to be full to bursting point with beeping cars this afternoon.
The other side
So what do Ireland’s insurers make of all this?
Michael Horan of industry body Insurance Ireland says that, contrary to McGrath’s revelations regarding insurance claims, the value of claims is in fact increasing not decreasing.
The devil is in the detail it seems.
“You have to look at both sides of the equation,” he tells TheJournal.ie.
You have to look at claims costs as well as premium levels, so claims costs as a percentage of premium. In 2011 we had higher claims it’s true, but we also had higher premium income because there were more cars on the road. The average cost per claim actually saw an increase between 2012 and 2014 and that’s borne out by the figures.
Horan says: “We’ve been calling for action on this constantly.”
At the end of the day it’s not in our interests to have higher premiums, because that means less insured drivers. It also means more uninsured drivers and nobody wants that.
Horan says that insurers here are “focused on solutions not problems”, and outlines four ways of combatting the rise of premiums.
“Look, we’re aware of the dissatisfaction of customers, and we understand their frustration,” says Horan.
We’ve diagnosed the problem, now let’s focus on the solutions. It’s in everyone’s interests – our market has been heavily loss-making for years.
We need to take the volatility out of the claim environment.
Enormous premiums?
And what of enormous premium quotes? Like a 25-year-old fully-licenced man in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, who was recently quoted a €14,000 premium?
“If you’re looking for quotes, you’ll get a variety across the spectrum,” says Horan.
“Some insurers have a more conservative risk appetite,” he says diplomatically.
Griffin is a little more clear-cut on this issue.
“It’s essentially a way of getting out of insuring an older car in our experience,” he says of such outlandish premium quotes.
The insurer knows full well the person in question can’t pay it. So they make it impossible for them to do so.
Today’s motor insurance protest will take place at Merrion Square from 2pm. Speakers will include Michael McGrath, Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, and independent Donegal TD Thomas Pringle.
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IF ever there was a moment for enda kenny to answer the bloody quewstions he was asked (i.e. not committing an affront to our democratic processes) it was today. His performance today at leaders questions in relation to the whistleblowers was, to borrow a relevant term, ‘disgusting’.
It’s pretty obvious at this stage Kenny is kicking a lot of cans down the road courtesy of his Co conspirators Fianna Fail.
@FC, if Adams ever answered the question relating to the murders he was involved in,ill buy you a pint.
@The spokesman: what is that got to do with the taoiseach of this country irrelevant of what party he is from showing what he showed today in the dail as nothing more than pathetic. If nothing else rolling his eyes to heaven is disgraceful with what has emerged.
@ FC…. And you’re point is what exactly ??. The post is about kenny and his inability / refusal to answer a question without waffling on & on in hope that his cohorts will make enough of a distraction to take the heat off him.
@The spokesman: Now that the FF, FG, LP and Independents are in Coalition why of course it is all SF’s fault, the fe##ers have been in power for far too long. There is no one else to blame.
Keep the status quo, save the party at all costs. Don’t let the fe##ers find out what we have been up to. Say nothing. Answer inconvenient questions with convenient white lies.
@The spokesman: i must have missed the reference to adams in the article. can you point it out to me.
Rolling his eyes up to heaven when the taoiseach is being asked questions on the Garda whistleblowers and the stories that have emerged is not really the way a Taoiseach should behave in light of what has come out.
@LITTLEONE: f/g stroke kenny stoke o’sullivan no credibility ,,, not rocket science ,,
I see they’ve given themselves another week off. Probably so they can spend the raise they gave themselves
The mushroom sector? I suppose they’d been kept in the dark and didn’t know what to expect.
@Damocles: It’s a shame, I knew the owner of the place. He was a fungi. **gets coat**
Yes, but how likely is it that he will answer any of the questions?
Kenny will do nothing. To do anything would upset the status quo. If he upsets Norinn, what will Denis do for a security force.
“Enda Kenny grilled…….”
Carlsberg don’t do headlines but if they did
Any questions put to him about the cases concerning Mary Boyle and Philip Cairns? I doubt the Journal will be informing us if such a question was posed.
Discussi g rural post offices?? I bet the Healy-Rae’s has one of them too
@Daithi De Roiste: It’s a shame to think that Kenny talks about supports for companies affected by the fall in value of sterling, yet he is not prepared to support our post offices which turn a good profit for this country.
Jesus, Mary Lou must love the sound of her own voice.
@Old Gordon: excellent contribution gordon, you must be very pleased with it
The UK is now having to face up to some of the realities of what they voted for and try to get as good a deal as possible from the EU. What they seem to forget is that they will need a lot of goodwill from the other EU member states if they are to succeed, but measures like this are too reminiscent of how the Nazis started discriminating against Jews and other “undesirables”. What next? Perhaps a blanket ban on certain groups being employed in whole sectors?
With a whole spate of national elections coming soon in the EU, not being seen to be too nice to the Brits or bending over backwards to accommodate their often apparently unreasonable demands, it will become de rigeur for European politicians to tell the Brits to take, at best, a Norway-style arrangement or else shag off with themselves.
@David Quim: You have it wrong there my friend, it won’t be a Norway or Swiss deal. It will be a UK deal, just you wait and see. The Germans are worried about the possible loss of their car exports to the UK. While the French buy a lot of Britains argi, especially UK lamb at the moment because it is cheaper.
How bout the truth about Mary Boyle and Philip Cairns …
have your say