Insurance premium doubles to over €7,000

cormie

I've seen a thread or two recently about increased insurance premiums. Well I got a bit of a shock when I opened a renewal letter telling me my fleet policy is more than double what it was last year, and in fact, since I've been with my insurer since 2009 and paying roughly the same each year.

Is this Celtic Tiger nonsense or what's going on here? I rang to query it but my account manager wasn't in so the other lady said that the underwriters have reviewed all the policy pricing and premiums have been increasing across the board.

I've had no claims go through the policy since being with the current insurer since 2009 and now all of a sudden they want to jack it up?

How can they justify this? I had awful trouble finding someone who would insure me due to the use of the vehicles and am dreading having to phone around. It seems completely unfair they can get away with hikes like this for something that is required by law and essential to running a legitimate business.

colm_mcm

Personal injuries are killing insurers.

cormie

I've heard it's judges rewarding ridiculous pay outs that's a much bigger part of the problem and you'd never receive such ridiculous pay outs in other countries in the EU. Surely it's been going on for years though, why such a huge hike all of a sudden?

bazz26

Take your pick:

High cost of personal injuries,
Under priced the insurance market here for a number of years,
Suffered huge losses on their investments in the global markets,
Passing on the expense of the PMPA, Quinn, Setanta, etc debts.

Nody

cormie wrote: »

I've heard it's judges rewarding ridiculous pay outs that's a much bigger part of the problem and you'd never receive such ridiculous pay outs in other countries in the EU. Surely it's been going on for years though, why such a huge hike all of a sudden?

Because the insurers have been pulled up on the fact they are not liquid enough (i.e. pricing below cost for insurance) and now need to pull back the prices to the point were they actually at least break even again (more raises to come).

To Elland Back

What is the use of the vehicles you refer to? Have you been told if there are individual factors contributing to the high cost (young driver, age of vehicle, security etc). Some adjustments on fleet policies can save a few bob

ASOT

I wish I got all of the understanding people in this thread on the phone in work, all I get when trying to explain that to customers is abuse haha

Triangle

I know from experience the cost of a rig was (a few years ago) 50% cheaper in a fleet than on a single vehicle policy, with one insurer. Which is insane! But some insurers were fighting for market share and not profitability.
It's not the only reason, but is one of them.

Also insurers seem to be trying to move away from declaration fleet policies (not sure if yours is declaration or not)

cormie

It's nothing about the vehicles or who is driving them, it's what they are used for, very few (I mean pretty much nobody I tried) insurers will quote when they hear the usage.

I remember Cinio posted a comparison of the driving costs between here and Poland and the insurance was far far cheaper there. How can the insurance companies abroad profit and survive on giving such cheaper premiums compared to Ireland?

Is there any plans on the insurance market being opened up to be EU wide so we can get cover from companies outside of Ireland I wonder?

cormie

Triangle wrote: »

Also insurers seem to be trying to move away from declaration fleet policies (not sure if yours is declaration or not)

I'm not sure what you mean by declaration fleet policy?

kirving

Personal injury really seems to have taken a leap in the past year or two.


Around this time last year, my fathers car (car 2 in the line) was rear ended, and bumped forward and hit another car (car 1).

His car needed a new rear bumper, boot lid, and a lot of finishing work after what was a decent smack. Car 3 never braked I assume. Of three people in the car, a bit of stiffness and shock was the extent of their injuries, 1-2k worth of repairs and that was it.

The driver of car 1 though, with zero damage (nothing to be repaired on the front of car 2), claimed €10k+ for personal injury, six months wages for being out of work, etc.

In this absolutely ridiculous situation, what are the insurance company to do? Bend over and pay the €30k or whatever it is, or fight it in court against solicitors on the clock, Dr. Nick Riviera, and a sympathetic judge who I'm sure will empathise with a victim who is still distraught in court after such a terrifying ordeal?

5W30

Jesus, with a premium of €7,000 I'd be clipping 50 cars every time I drive into a car park! Absurd price!

Cuddlesworth

A friend of mine has told me that there are new insurance regulations coming into Europe and as part of those regulations insurers are expected to have greater reserves of cash to comply. Ireland it seems is intent on being one of the first to implement these regulations. So each insurance company in Ireland needs to significantly increase their cash reserves.

JohnFalstaff

There was a piece on the radio yesterday evening about this. They had a guy on who said that insurance payouts awarded by the courts here are three times as high as they are in the UK.

He compared a payout for a whiplash claim being about €5,000 in the UK compared to €15,000 here, part of that expense is the high legal fees in this country.

Atlantic Dawn

Insurers need to make moves here to limit spurious claims, one easy step would be to give a 10% discount for a dashcam, this would provide evidence in a claim and reduce fraudulent claims they are forced to pay.

galwaytt

I thought PIAB was supposed to cure all this ?

koutoubia

All the PIAB did was set a target for compensation. Many cases don't even make it to court and compo is being paid out based on PIAB guidelines.

ohnonotgmail

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Insurers need to make moves here to limit spurious claims, one easy step would be to give a 10% discount for a dashcam, this would provide evidence in a claim and reduce fraudulent claims they are forced to pay.

how would that prevent claims for soft tissue injuries like the recent thread here where a small bump resulted in a €13000 payout for a sore neck?

To Elland Back

cormie wrote: »

It's nothing about the vehicles or who is driving them, it's what they are used for,?

You haven't told us what this Use is

_Brian

colm_mcm wrote: »

Personal injuries are killing insurers.

And the manner in which insurance companies are dealing with claims is also accelerating costs..
They are refuting almost all medical evidence that doesn't agree with their position - including from their own appointed consultants.

Forcing too many cases from the injuries board into full litigation cases where costs spiral to unbelievable levels.

There was a barrister and an insurance body representative on the radio one evening and she pushed that the companies are also trying to recoup the losses they have made through poor investments - something he could not deny.

It think its important to stress that not all personal injury cases are frauds nor unnecessarily inflated - and to realise that the insurance companies are not innocent in the way the market is going.

Those making a business out of serial bogus claims need to be identified and prosecuted and those making genuine claims need their cases properly dealt with.

Atlantic Dawn

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

how would that prevent claims for soft tissue injuries like the recent thread here where a small bump resulted in a €13000 payout for a sore neck?

Probably not as it's impossible to diagnose and proove but it would in other cases prevent claims.

sunnysoutheast

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Probably not as it's impossible to diagnose and proove but it would in other cases prevent claims.

Could certainly be of use where liability is contested, and to flush out obvious staged crashes, mysteriously-appearing passengers etc.

To Elland Back

_Brian wrote: »

Forcing too many cases from the injuries board into full litigation cases where costs spiral to unbelievable levels.
.

The majority of complaints in this forum is that insurers do not fight enough cases and bring them to court