Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 12 November 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Dual Pricing for Insurance: Discussion

Ms Derville Rowland:

What we are focused on is protection over time for the customers. Precisely because this is an issue that needs to be looked at in greater detail, we are doing this significant piece of work. They are required to adhere to the high standards of the conduct of business requirements, and that is precisely what they have to do. There are winners and losers in this, for sure, and that is what happens. I am aware some businesses do not price differentiate at all and some businesses give existing customers cheaper prices to stay with them. There are now flash sales occurring in insurance whereby there are windows of additional discounts being given to people if they move their business to others. There are cheaper prices online. There is a complex set of circumstances here. We have to look at this in the life cycle of the fairness over time to customers, and that is precisely what we are going to do.