Mayo Senator says motor insurers are lying about price hikes

Anton McNulty

A MAYO Senator is asking whether a cartel is operating in the motor insurance industry, and is calling for ‘truth and transparency’ in the sector.
Sinn Féin councillor Rose Conway-Walsh made the comments following a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, during which the high cost of motor insurance was discussed.
The meeting included members of the Injuries Board, the Society of Actuaries, the Law Society, the Road Haulage Association, the Irish Taxi Drivers’ Federation, the Car Rental Council, the Consumer Association of Ireland and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, as well as Minister of State for Financial Services, eGovernment and Public Procurement Eoghan Murphy.
Senator Conway-Walsh, who is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee, said that truth and transparency are key to addressing the ‘unacceptable increases in motor insurance’.
“Each and every witness that came before the committee cited the absence of any real data as an impediment to solving the motor insurance crisis. The insurance industry must now be forced to release the necessary data to the Central Bank.
“The other major concern coming through from our meetings is the uniformity that exists between insurance companies. The question has to be asked as to whether a cartel is in operation. I very much welcome the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s agreement to investigate this,” she said.
The Erris-based senator also criticised the imposition of high premiums on many people living in rural Ireland who do not have the option of taking public transport to their places of work.
She went on to say that she believed the that premium increases were being driven not by claims, but by losses that the insurance companies had incurred on their investments.
“It is also now clear that the number of claims has not increased, nor the value of payouts from claims. The Law Society refutes that legal fees have increased. The extortionate rises in premiums cannot be explained by blaming motorists for more accidents. This simply does not hold up in the information we are getting to date.
“The fact that many insurance companies have suffered heavy losses in foreign investments is not a sufficient reason to heap that burden on customers. What is even more unjust is for the industry to peddle the lie that the increases are due to drivers’ actions, be that fraud or increased claims,” she said.