Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

62. To ask the Minister for Finance the payments made by motor insurers in each of the past five years by type of claims, that is, third party, comprehensive and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4780/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

At the outset, it is important to note that as Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. Neither my Department nor the Central Bank of Ireland collect the type of information being sought by the Deputy on a routine basis. However, the Deputy will note that in line with Recommendation 12 of the Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance, my Department has published Key Information Reports relating to Motor Insurance. In advance of the establishment of the National Claims Information Database, these reports endeavour to provide some information on key aggregated metrics in relation to motor insurance and may contain some information relevant to the Deputy’s request. The most recent of these reports was published in May 2018 and provides some information and data on claims costs trends, including third party injury costs and non-injury in Parts 2 to 4, between 2011 and 2016 – see attached link: .

In addition, the Deputy will be aware that the Oireachtas recently passed the legislation to provide relevant powers to the Central Bank of Ireland to establish the National Claims Information Database. The Deputy may like to note that the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Act 2018 was commenced by the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Act 2018 (Commencement) Order 2019 (S.I. 2 of 2019) on Monday 28 January 2019. The Central Bank plans to collect claims data for the National Claims Information Database from insurance undertakings in the first half of 2019, with a view to publishing its first annual report under the legislation in the second half of this year.

With regard to the type of data requested by the Deputy, it is expected that the Central Bank will collect and publish claims information in respect of the last 10 years, including the number of claims reported and settled, the amounts paid on claims, the incurred cost on claims (i.e. the amount paid plus the outstanding amount to be paid, if any), and the actuarial estimate of the final cost of claims i.e. ultimate costs. This data will be submitted for each type of claim, i.e. Third Party Injury, Third Party Damage, Accidental/Own Damage, Fire & Theft, and Windscreen. This historic data will enable trends in average cost per claim, average claims cost per type of policy, and claims frequency to be analysed by both type of claim and type of policy.