Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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190. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the measures that have been taken to meet and engage with insurance companies regarding excessive premiums being charged to consumers, particularly in counties Cavan and Monaghan. [13886/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy should note that in my role as Minister for Finance I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. Neither I nor the Central Bank can interfere in the pricing of insurance products, as these matters are of a commercial nature, and are determined by insurance companies based on the risks they are willing to accept.

However, it is acknowledged that pricing in the motor insurance sector has been subject to a lot of volatility in recent years, from a point where some premiums appeared to be priced at an unsustainably low level to the more recent experience of large increases.

Indeed, the problem of rising motor insurance premiums was the main impetus for the establishment of the Cost of Insurance Working Group.  Its Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017.  The Report makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, set out within an Action Plan.  The Working Group continued its work throughout 2017 and subsequently published the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance in January 2018.

Stakeholder consultation formed the foundation upon which the Working Group’s two Reports and their recommendations were developed. This consultation process undertaken by the Working Group involved a wide range of stakeholders representing the different voices within this sector, including Insurance Ireland and the major individual motor insurance providers. The impact of excessive premiums being charged to consumers from all over the country was a feature of this engagement process with industry.  

In addition, my Department officials regularly raise specific issues affecting consumers during their ongoing engagement with Insurance Ireland, including within a sub-group formed to implement relevant consumer-focused recommendations from the Motor Report.

Furthermore, Minister of State D’Arcy has separately met with representatives from insurance companies and other relevant stakeholders in relation to a number of issues and the problems resulting from high insurance premiums have been  discussed during these engagements.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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191. To ask the Minister for Finance when consumers will receive a detailed breakdown of their insurance quotes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13657/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy should note that there are two recommendations in the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance which specifically aim to provide consumers with more information in respect of their insurance premiums.

Recommendation 2 requires insurers to provide additional information on the premium breakdown to consumers, such as setting out the element of the cost related to the mandatory motor insurance element (third party), in addition to the non-mandatory element (comprehensive).  The Central Bank of Ireland conducted a public consultation to seek views from interested stakeholders on this recommendation.  This consultation process closed on 9 February last and subsequent amendments to provide for these changes will be made to the Non-Life Insurance (Provision of Information) (Renewal of Policy of Insurance) Regulations (SI No. 74 of 2007).  This is on schedule to be completed by the end of Q2 2018, as per the set timeline.

Pursuant to Recommendation 1, a protocol has been agreed between Insurance Ireland and the Department of Finance which aims to explain how a premium is calculated and provides a list of reasons for large increases in premiums.  The content of this document is now available on the websites of the major motor insurance providers and will also be provided to policyholders on renewal.

The agreed document is not a bespoke document but consumers will be provided with contact details of their insurance provider in order to enable them to receive more specific information if they do not believe any of the listed reasons apply to their situation.  The main reason why a bespoke document cannot be provided is because the complexity of the interaction between the customer-facing systems and the underwriting systems in all modern insurance companies would make it very difficult to delineate specific reasons for an individual premium increase.  I am informed that if insurers were to try and link these systems in order to address this issue, it would require very significant IT infrastructural changes at considerable cost. This would be likely to result in higher premiums.  In addition, the Cost of Insurance Working Group believes that such an onerous requirement could result in the unintended consequence of discouraging new entrants to the market.

Finally, the Deputy should note that I am seeking to have the previous year’s premium included in renewal documentation.  In this regard my Department has engaged with Insurance Ireland on this matter and has made a submission as part of the aforementioned Central Bank consultation process. It will continue to engage on this issue to further improve the level of information provided to policyholders.