Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On a wider issue, the insurance market is completely and utterly broken for many people. The issue goes wider than dual pricing, which is just one element. We have a system under which people are legally required to have insurance to drive on the roads, and rightly so. That system is not in place in every country. I will give the example of a 19 year old who holds a provisional licence, which means he has to be accompanied by a qualified driver. He owns a car, which was registered in 2008 and is valued at €2,000. He tried to get insurance. I have emails from insurance companies stating that he falls outside their risk appetite and so on. He then contacted a broker to get the best price and the broker responded as follows:

Further to our conversation, I can confirm that we have obtained terms for the above type of insurance. The most competitive premium I have obtained is €12,319.78.

This quote was for a third party, fire and theft policy so it was not even fully comprehensive. That is what the insurance industry is doing to some people. This young man lives in a rural area. He wants to learn how to drive and has to be accompanied by an adult. The most competitive price he can get is €12,319.78. There is something seriously wrong in the insurance market when that is happening. There is huge frustration about this. I raise this case with Ms Rowland to elicit a comment from her but also to show that the Central Bank, which has a consumer protection role, needs to offer encouragement in order that people such as those to whom I referred are not fleeced. People I know only too well are being fleeced as a result of dual pricing, a practice which, to return to my earlier point, has been banned in over 17 states in the world of the free market.