Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has welcomed the launch of the Oireachtas Finance Committee report on Rising Costs of Motor Insurance but said that swift action was now needed to stop the rising fees and rip off Insurance premiums.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“This is a timely report produced over a number of weeks which outlines 71 recommendations that when implemented should reduce the cost of premiums. We now need these recommendations to be swiftly acted on and followed up on in a timely manner by a number of organisations including the Government.

Some of the report’s key recommendations include:

· An end to the “closed shop” mentality of the industry and calls for full transparency in relation to claims information;

· Calls for the Central Statistics Office to be given a statutory role in collating insurance data;

· That consumers be given a detailed cost information in renewal notices;

· Calls for more pro-active regulation of the industry by the Central Bank of Ireland with a greater focus on consumer protection;

· That insurance companies be compelled to inform the consumer whether they have taken into account the mandatory medical assessments for over 70s drivers when calculating insurance premiums for this group;

· That greater powers for the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), with the objective of increasing the number of claims cases settled by PIAB, thereby reducing claims and costs generally;

· That insurers be compelled to notify customers in advance of settling claims made against them;

· That the Book of Quantum be reviewed and updated on a regular basis;

· That recent changes to the monetary jurisdictions of the civil courts be reviewed.

“ Clearly there are specific recommendations that require prompt government action including the suggestion that the Central Statistics Office be given a statutory role in collating insurance data and that there be pro-active regulation of the industry by the Central Bank of Ireland with a greater focus on consumer protection.

“While many media headlines have quite rightly focussed on the role of fraud, my party Sinn Féin have also focused in on the fact that many of the insurers’ excuses simply don’t add up. The elephant in the room when it comes to insurance increases has been the business model of the insurers who are facing less profitability in their investments and piling it on to customers’ premiums.

“The provision of raw data from the industry is another crucial way to improve transparency which in turn will lead to better outcomes for drivers. As well as making this aggregate data available for analysis, insurers need to be compelled to notify and provide detailed information to customers in advance of instances where insurers have decided to settle claims privately.

“Customers have a right to ask why such an approach is being taken and the rationale behind the decision should be supplied in writing to party who will ultimately be facing an increase in their insurance premium.”