Results 7,981-8,000 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: We have seen this issue in the banking system as well. The witness referred to it in utility companies. Of course, they do it. They offer a better deal if one is a new customer signing up whereas if one is locked into a contract, one cannot avail of that until the contract expires. This is not the only industry that is doing it. Banks are doing it for the biggest transaction that people...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Mr. Quinlan is saying this is the reality of commerce and let the buyer beware.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: The consumer needs to shop around and he or she will probably achieve a saving if he or she shops around.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: I assume the same policy applies with Zurich and AIG.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Is the broker obliged, on receiving the renewal quotation from the insurer, to shop around for that consumer and adviser him or her that the broker can get a better deal elsewhere?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Does it happen in practice?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: In practice, I have come across older people in particular who would happen to show me what their renewal is, maybe on home insurance. They might have been with the same firm for 20 years. They are paying through the nose because they never did anything about it. They never made an inquiry. That is the reality. There are such customers out there and the insurers are benefiting from that....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Deputy Pearse Doherty spent much of his time on fraud. I will not go into it in any great detail. Mr. Farrell referred to 500 cases being referred to the Garda over the past four years.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Plus a further 100 this year. Is that right?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: There were 600 cases, let us say, in the past four years. How many of those have ended with a conviction in the courts?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Two.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: What do the gardaí tell Mr. Farrell in private about their ability to take these cases the distance if they believe they are fraudulent? We are not involved in the detail of those investigations. We do not know exactly what is going on. Maybe they are not fraudulent. I would assume, if Mr. Farrell refers them, he is fairly sure that those cases are fraudulent.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Is it not the truth that they are swamped? They are drowning in cases across all areas of fraud-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: ----and they cannot handle it. How many of those 600 ended up in court? Mr. Farrell stated two ended up with a conviction, but how many went to court?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: What happens in those cases in relation to the legal costs? If one is in the High Court for three weeks defending a case, the claimant eventually walks away and does not bring it to the end point. The insurer must pay its costs. What happens to the costs of the claimant?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: All the insurers gave a profile of the make-up of premiums, with typically, 60% to 65% going on awards for settlement. How much is going on legal costs? Did they give that figure?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: In awards in the area of motor insurance, 30% of those awards are accounted for in the round by the legal costs.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Would that be broadly similar?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: Can I get a handle across the personal injuries awards, whether it be motor insurance or in the liability area, such as public liability? The settlement channels are court, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, and out of court settlements. Can Aviva give the committee the broad profile in percentage terms of how its personal injuries claims are settled through those three channels?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Oct 2019)
Michael McGrath: And Zurich?