Mr. Kevin Thompson:

I thank Deputy James Lawless. On the first question about changes to jurisdictional limits, I draw him back to the first cost of insurance working group which examined the issue. On page 109 of its report it is stated, "There had been an underlying growth in cases across all courts". I accept that some cases which would have been heard in the High Court are now being heard in the Circuit Court or the District Court. Unfortunately, the figures from the Courts Service show that there has been growth across all courts. Unfortunately, that is driving the cost of claims.

The Deputy asked about insurers settling cases very quickly. This is always a charge put to insurers, but we have a duty and a responsibility to all claimants to treat them fairly under the consumer protection code, within which one of the abiding principles is that we settle claims quickly, fairly and satisfactorily for the claimants. Insurers will make a decision on whether to settle based on the evidence put in front of them. They do not want cases to drag on. If people are due money at the point of making a claim, they will wish to have the claim settled quickly, but there has been a far tougher approach within the sector to what we consider to be dubious or fraudulent claims. That will continue to be the case. On behalf of honest policy holders, as a sector, we make no apology for this. Our members are getting very tough in this area. The downside is that it is costly to defend such claims. Where we have a suspicion of fraud and want to take a case through the courts, it will cost money. Unfortunately, that feeds through to the cost of claims. Whether a claim is legitimate, honest policy holders have to fund that cost.

Regardless of what people think, we have been strong advocates of the PIAB from the time it was established. Following the consultation process which started in 2014, we believe the issue needs to be revisited. The board needs to be given more powers in order that it can deal with more claims. We know from its annual report that the annual cost associated with settling a claim was about 6.5%. That is what the figure should be and we have no problem with it whatsoever. We are very supportive of doing whatever we can to address the heads of a Bill to increase the powers of the board in order that legislation can be passed quickly. Unfortunately, when cases do not fall within the remit of the board and are taken to the steps of or into the courts, it is expensive. It is also expensive for us to defend fraudulent claims and that expense has been borne. A report from the Department of Finance from the cost of insurance working group stated that for every €100,000 claim, there were additional legal and other costs of over €42,000 which, by any stretch, is expensive. As an industry, we will do our bit and feed into the establishment of a national claims information database which would bring transparency to awards and associated claim costs.