Results 10,161-10,180 of 11,968 for speaker:Paul Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: The core point missing from the picture is the insurance figures produced by the Central Bank showing the profits year by year. For those insurance companies with headquarters in Ireland, the profit on motor insurance over 20 years is €2.86 billion. That is a lot of money and a very profitable industry. It is a return on premiums of approximately 12%, which is high by, for example,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: I fundamentally disagree. Profit is a transfer from those who pay the premiums to the insurance companies. That is unnecessary. It is an extra cost. For example, if there was a non-profit State-run model, it would not happen. That would be €2.6 billion over 20 years that would be in car owners' pockets instead of the pocket of insurance companies. There is discrimination...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Accepted by whom?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: I thank the witnesses for the presentations. My first question is for the actuaries on the Central Bank statistics. Table 15 of the Central Bank statistics on motor insurance shows in 2014 a loss for companies with headquarters in Ireland of €137 million and in 2013 a loss of €195 million. Before that it shows profits of €145 million in 2012, €156 million in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: In general is it fair to say they have been "highly", "fairly", or "reasonably" profitable - the witness can choose his own word - over a long period?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Let us consider profitability in a different way, as an average surplus per policy. How much profit do they make on the average policy? Do the actuaries have any figures for an international comparison? I have seen figures that suggest that the average surplus per policy in Ireland is significantly higher than in Britain, which is a good comparator in terms of the market.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Have the actuaries got any comparative data for profit per premium for Britain?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: In response to the point about the profits being a necessary cost, there is an alternative here. That is why I think we should broaden the scope. There is a different model of insurance, which is a not-for-profit model in which we do not have to have this extra cost. That €2.86 billion was paid by people in premiums as a cost. If Mr. Dunne thinks, ideologically, that it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: I think Mr. Dunne would have a hard time convincing those who are now facing these massive hikes that the market is particularly efficient right now or is delivering for people. I thank Mr. Dunne for those responses. In terms of the Injuries Board, a big issue is the black box of lack of knowledge that we have, which is all that is not settled through the court or through the Injuries...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: At that endpoint, Mr. Watkins said that 7,000 or so claims are accepted by both parties. In cases in which it is only accepted by one party and rejected by the other, what is the balance?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: What I mean is that when the rejection takes place, is it a rejection by the respondent or the claimant?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Mr. Watkins cannot speak for cases that are settled elsewhere, but in terms of the Injuries Board's own figures, has there been any increase in the amount that was awarded in terms of claims or in the volume of claims between 2015 and 2014, for example?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: The insurance companies talk quite a lot about fraud. Is fraud something that the Injuries Board has a category for and statistically takes note of to say that it rejected X number of claims because it believed that they were fraudulent? Does the Injuries Board have those figures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Okay. So they are accepting whatever percentage-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Okay. That is useful. Are there reforms that the witnesses think could be implemented that would make the work of the Injuries Board more effective and bring more people under its remit? What are they?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. They are a bit of fresh air in terms of some of the discussion we have heard. I agree with the analysis that there is quite an extensive propaganda war going on by the insurance industry. It has actually been quite successful and is reflected in some of the contributions we have had from people who are also victims. The two buzzwords used to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: Mr. Conor Faughnan of the AA said that about 10% of the claims are resolved in court, 20% go through the Injuries Board and the rest of them are out-of-court private settlements. That is all in the black box Mr. Gilhooly mentioned. How does one go about getting that? Is there any legal difficulty with passing a law that provides for these things to be published because they are in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: How does that happen in reality? In an average case at what stage does it leave the formal process? Is it at that point before the Injuries Board or is it between the Injuries Board and the court?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Cost of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Sep 2016)

Paul Murphy: It is inevitable that there must be some fraud. However, fraud is often spoken about as if it is the factor driving premiums up and there is an absence of facts to accompany any of that. Can the witnesses give us facts on how many fraud prosecutions take place in a year? How many cases are dealt with in that way that it is exaggerated-----