Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government has prioritised reform of the insurance sector to reduce the cost of litigation and ultimately premiums. The PIAB was set up in 2003 to deal with motor liability, employer liability and public liability. It has been successful in reducing both the costs associated with claims and the time taken to resolve claims at no cost to the Exchequer. The PIAB process annually saves tens of millions of euro that would otherwise be paid in legal costs. It has resulted in a significant decline in personal injury claims. The impact over two years is an expected overall decrease of over 30% on 2019 levels. The Central Bank is responsible for publishing a report analysing the data. The report showed the pursuit of litigation contributed significantly to the overall statement cost and that the cost of claims settled by litigation had increased significantly since 2015. For those settled with a court award, legal costs totalled 49% of the cost. The hope is that through the Action Plan for Insurance Reform we can all enjoy reduced premiums, fewer court cases and less litigation and fraud.

I wish to bring something to the Minister of State's attention. The PIAB was set up to deal with motor liability, employer liability and public liability. I was and still am in construction and we had our insurance renewed recently. I was talking to different businesses across the board and this affects all of them. I would like the Minister of State's help with it. Your insurance liability is based on turnover and due to the escalating cost of materials and the running costs of any business, insurance premiums are being shoved up. At the end of the year you will have less profit but a higher turnover and will pay more for insurance because of the higher turnover. This needs to be addressed. Whether you are a coffee shop, a local shop, a hardware store - it does not matter what business you are in - your turnover is higher but your profit is either the same or less. Despite this, you are paying higher insurance premiums. That is not right. Those are inflation costs. We need the Government to deal with this. Businesses in all sectors are struggling due to inflation and are paying higher insurance costs and it is not being dealt with. It is the same with motor, public and employer liability across the board.

There is an area this Bill will help with. We have people who have made more than one claim. I am talking about people who might have had two claims per year for the last ten years, within a family unit, and this was not being picked up on. The data needs to be reflected back here about serial claimants within a family unit. That was actually happening. After that, you could go in on a county and see how many claims were being pursued. Then, when you, or your children or partner, went for motor insurance, you were all getting an insurance premium based on the amount of claims being made in each county. If you were in Cork, you could have a lower rate, a higher one in Limerick, a lower one in Tipperary, and so on. It was all based on the amount of claims within an area. Many of these claimants were people making a business of claiming. I hope the PIAB addresses people who are making a business of claiming and thereby distorting the figures. It is the normal person who must go out and pay for his or her insurance who is paying for this. I need the Government to look at the situation of insurance premiums rising for businesses due to a higher turnover caused by inflation, even though profits are lower. I would like the Minister of State's help with that. Any help he can give I will work with him on to ensure businesses get a fair premium cost and are not being targeted because of inflation costs.

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