Mr. Kian Griffin:

I thank the committee for inviting me today. Much of what I have to say will be identical to what Mr. Faughnan has said. Primarily, the people I am here to represent are younger drivers. Ireland UnderGround is the organisation I am here on behalf of. It comes from a forum I set up in February to discuss issues relating to younger drivers. Almost immediately the discussion turned to motor insurance. This has always been a major concern for younger drivers but I believe in the past 12 months in particular it has gotten out of hand.

I am consistently getting messages, calls and social media messages from people who are in a state of despair. They do not know whether they can afford to go to work the following morning because of the cost of their motor insurance on top of everything else. One of the most worrying messages I am getting on a consistent basis comes from people who are refusing or who cannot afford to pay for motor insurance. Figures published recently by the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland show a 17% increase in claims involving uninsured drivers. Clearly, I need not tell the committee that is part of the problem. We seem to be getting into a rather dangerous cycle whereby the costs are increasing and more people are using that as an excuse not to pay their insurance, or else they simply cannot afford to. This increases the figures and it feeds in to increasing costs on top of that. Judging from the messages I am getting, it does not seem like this will slow down any time soon, particularly in the case of the younger demographic. They are saying they have paid for this year but they know it will go up next year. They say they cannot afford this month's payment and so on. It looks as though it will keep rising.

One of the key problems people have mentioned to me is that their premiums are increasing despite their having had no claims or accidents. It does not seem logical to them that the price should go up when they are doing what they should be doing. They are driving safely and they are not involved in any accidents or claims. They are building up their no-claims bonuses, yet their premiums are increasing. They see this as pure profiteering by the insurance companies. I know these companies have to turn a profit to stay in the market. They will do what they believe they have to do to keep their profits up. The easiest way for them to do that is to increase the premiums to counteract the claims they pay out. I have no problem with private companies trying to stay profitable. The issue is that they are doing it at the cost of the motorist.

I believe we need to try to aid the insurance companies to bring down their expenses in order that they can remain profitable while offering lower premiums. There are a number of ways we could do this at official level. The first would be to bring compensation payouts in line with the EU averages. As Mr. Faughnan said before me, we should compel the courts to adhere to the book of quantum rather than simply refer to it. I am keen to see fraudulent and exaggerated claims tackled more aggressively and possibly the granting of greater powers to the Injuries Board.

Another issue that has been brought to my attention - Mr. Faughnan has touched on this already - is the lack of clarity. When we take our motor insurance, it is to cover the risk of accident, theft, etc. It would seem logical that as people gain experience, their premiums should come down. However, such has been the increase in premiums that those who have been driving for years or even decades without a claim are still seeing extraordinary increases. There seems to be no consistency in pricing. People want clarity. They want to see exactly what they are paying for. I believe it is only fair that when someone is offered a premium, that premium should be broken down. It should be shown clearly to the customer point by point what exactly they are paying for. Using the same line of reasoning, insurance companies are claiming that much of the increase in cost is down to the cost of claims, yet, as Mr. Faughnan remarked, 70% of claims are settled out of court. A motion was put forward by Deputy McGrath and supported by the vast majority of the Dáil at the time calling for the implementation of a claims database, and I support the idea. The companies may claim this is anti-competitive, but I maintain that if everyone wants to disclose their information on out-of-court settlements, then it is a level playing field for all. I believe that would help reduce the cost of claims. If we had the database, we could monitor whether suspected fraudulent claims were not being fully investigated.

The last issue I wish to touch on is a particular issue affecting younger drivers more so than older drivers. There is a refusal by many insurance companies to take on cars older than ten years in some cases. I am driving a 15-year-old car and I was restricted from shopping around for my premium this year. I had to stick with the company I was with because other companies refused point blank to insure a car of that age. This was something of a nuisance for me. I am unsure whether they expect 17 or 18-year-olds to be earning €50,000 per year, but I know few younger drivers can afford to buy a newer car to take advantage of the lower premiums. If a car has a valid NCT certificate, then it should be required by law to be judged the same as a new car in terms of risk. In most countries, the insurance companies assess the risk based on the car or the driver, but here they seem to do both. I do not see why, if I am considered a low-risk insurable driver in a 2010 BMW, I should be considered a higher-risk or uninsurable driver in an older car. Like most people, my driving style will not change based on the car I drive.

The feedback I am getting from younger drivers is that they are besieged on all fronts. There is sense of hopelessness. They do not know where to turn to try to alleviate the pressures they have on their shoulders. We have to contend with a two-tier tax system, high fuel costs and poor road conditions leading to high maintenance fees. Now, we have to deal with the rapidly increasing insurance premiums on top of all that.

The Government has consistently referred to keeping the recovery going. That might be true in Dublin or for the upper class, but I cannot say that I have experienced any recovery, and I think I speak for all younger drivers and drivers in general in Ireland when I say that we need the help of the committee. We are on our knees begging at this stage. We simply do not know where to turn any more.