Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

We are all in a unique position because we interact with the public all the time. One of the issues on people's minds is the cost of living. One of the major concerns is the cost of insurance and motor insurance is a significant factor in that context. The high cost of living has undermined the ability of many families to make ends meet. Motor insurance becomes one of those out-of-the-ordinary costs and unexpected, big increases can really cripple a family's monthly budget. The average cost of insurance has risen by over 60% since 2012. Such an increase is proof positive the system is dysfunctional. We have all heard stories. Most Deputies or their family members will have had experience of premiums rising dramatically since last year despite the fact there may have been no change in circumstances.

Just this week I had contact from a constituent who after 40 years of driving claim-free had cause to make a claim on his policy in 2016. This resulted in him having his premium increased by €455 for the next year, bringing it to €894. He shopped around for a few weeks and tried to see if he could get a better quote. While he was doing that his insurance company withdrew the quotation of €894 and is now seeking €2,770. The man is 40 years driving with no claims and is facing a premium not far off €3,000. It will obviously not be just one year; it will be an issue that will go on for several years. It is absolutely outrageous. While it is true things have calmed down in terms of increases in motor insurance over the last number of months, the fact remains the insurance regime is flawed and requires a new way of doing business.

We are almost an outlier in terms of international standards for some injury awards. A broken arm in the UK tends to attract an average settlement of £5,000 whereas here, the average award for the same injury is €16,000. It is legitimate to ask why there is a discrepancy. The £5,000 might be too low but is there a good reason for the discrepancy? There is an urgent need to provide far better settlement guidance for judges and for the Personal Injuries Assessment Board when it comes to making decisions on injury settlements. Where there are injuries that merit awards or very high awards, it is imperative those awards are in keeping with the seriousness of the injury, the rehabilitation required and the loss of earnings and potential earnings. It is important there is transparency in how it is calculated. It is possible to reduce legal costs associated with personal injuries claims by improving the methods of non-litigation settlement and thereby further reducing costs. Once the legal profession is involved in the court system, it becomes a very big element of any settlement.

Small and medium businesses in this country face significant bureaucratic pressures and ever-increasing costs associated with trying to run a business. Motor and business insurance are chief among them. It simply does not make economic sense to cripple businesses with exorbitant insurance costs which could potentially price them out of business and reduce the number of people who are contributing.

Of the ten action points specified in the Government's report on the cost of motor insurance, which came after the crisis in the industry had pretty much exploded, three have still not been completed. Much data is collected and we should have a mechanism for monitoring the situation and not allow it to get to the point of a crisis. In the past number of years, we have had a number of debates in the House on this issue when it escalates to the point of being routinely on the airwaves.

I will make a comment that is slightly off track on the issue of health insurance and the regime in place at the moment. When anybody is admitted to hospital through accident and emergency, he or she is, by definition, vulnerable. People are not admitted willy-nilly into accident and emergency. A woman contacted me who ended up having a serious increase in her blood pressure, to the point where the consultant had to be called, because of the pressure put on her to fill out a form to say she was a private patient because she had health insurance when, in fact, she went in through accident and emergency as a consequence of ill-health. The kind of pressure being put on people is absolutely outrageous. They did not take account that it presented a problem for that woman that evening and they came back again the next morning.

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