Another insurance thread

_davidsmith_

So I know there is a million threads giving out yards, and forgive me if this has been done before. But id like to know if there are any underwriters or people who work in insurance who have an idea on how the situation has deteriorated to this point. Shed a bit of light on all the threads of insurance woes.

Is it a case of these rate increases are filtering down from governmental bodies or is it localised to the insurance companies themselves.

I don't want a witch hunt and any abuse will not be tolerated.

But id like to hear the company line on how these rate increases are going to affect the market. I.E if they continue on this path the insurance will out weigh the value of a lot of cars on the roads and could drive a black market in uninsured drivers risking it because it makes fiscal sense for them to take that risk.

K.Flyer

Its the insurance companies doing their best to screw people, especially young drivers, for everything they can. Its now being picked up by the media and was a feature item on RTE drivetime radio yesterday evening.

Corvo

What they are taking in on premium isn't enough for what they are paying out in claims.

See FBD (reporting losses), RSA etc.

_davidsmith_

Corvo wrote: »

What they are taking in on premium isn't enough for what they are paying out in claims.

See FBD (reporting losses), RSA etc.

I do get that, heard the average uncontested whiplash claim is 10k. But this drives home my point that passing losses from fraudulent claims onto the consumer can drive black markets in people not paying. I understand theres been points of people paying under the odds for years and its levelling out when their 200 premium goes up to 360.

But the more pertinent point is the insane quotes they are coming out with, im 29 with NCB on a Subaru and one quote I got was €36,000. Or €5000 quotes on a car valued at €2000.

Now they're saying on their advertisements that the nct is not a valid representation that the car is road worthy, ridiculous. Insurance companies will not insure a car of a certain age because its not safe, even though it has legally been defined as road worthy?

Theres recouping money from losses due to fraud and there is burying your head in the sand to the root of the problem and luming insane premiums across the board and hoping it goes away.

Special Circumstances

Corvo wrote: »

What they are taking in on premium isn't enough for what they are paying out in claims.

See FBD (reporting losses), RSA etc.

True... but if they were selling TVs rather than a product that is legally and morally mandatory, they'd have to find a smart way to cut costs rather than just upping the prices over and over again.

Over simplified I know but when does Joe Average get to say enough is enough?

To Elland Back

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Over simplified I know but when does Joe Average get to say enough is enough?

I for one hope there is a revolt on this issue soon and then it will come out that the fault lies with the Government, Insurers, the legal profession, the medical profession and greedy/fraudulent citizens and not just the obvious target for justifiable anger

dr.fuzzenstein

To Elland Back wrote: »

I for one hope there is a revolt on this issue soon and then it will come out that the fault lies with the Government, Insurers, the legal profession, the medical profession and greedy/fraudulent citizens and not just the obvious target for justifiable anger

With you all the way! Who will be first against the wall when you are king?

CJhaughey

If the Government demand that insurance is mandatory, then the responsibility lies with them to make sure it is affordable.
There are of case studies of small countries just like here that have insurance that is not unaffordable.
Allowing private companies to profit at the expense of motorists is simply abject failure on the part of government to actually manage and setup a proper state run 3rd party system.
Its much the same as the rest of the state if you look at it in a broader sense. education is run by the Church instead of the state, water is run by a private company, etc etc.
If the Government did actually do what they are supposed to then all of these things become part of the State not private entities able to profit from a captive market.

To Elland Back

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

With you all the way! Who will be first against the wall when you are king?

Half the posters in this forum :eek:

_davidsmith_

To Elland Back wrote: »

Half the posters in this forum :eek:

Only half?! you must have a lot of leniency

Lellostag

To Elland Back wrote: »

I for one hope there is a revolt on this issue soon and then it will come out that the fault lies with the Government, Insurers, the legal profession, the medical profession and greedy/fraudulent citizens and not just the obvious target for justifiable anger

Well said, couldn't agree more! The current state of affairs is just the symptom of so many things being wrong and the government do need to do something (i.e. reform legislation, the injuries board, etc etc) about the root cause to this rather ridiculous situation, and that being a genuine reform of the area you highlight. If that can be tackled properly then it will become so much harder to make fraudulent and excaggerated claims meaning we'll all win in the end.

It is though hard to envisage anything will happen other than a bit of fobbing off and pretending to do something...

Gumbo

I was told that 2014 was a bad year for insurance claims. The underwriters didn't foresee it been so bad and now the rates have rocketed to show this. I was also told that they expect it to level off this year allowing the rates to level off for next year or the year after.

But it's any bodies guess.

Gumbo

K.Flyer wrote: »

Its the insurance companies doing their best to screw people, especially young drivers, for everything they can. Its now being picked up by the media and was a feature item on RTE drivetime radio yesterday evening.

Not only young drivers.
36 years old, full licence and driving under own name since 2003 and premium increased 55% this year!

My GF btw so female policy obviously.

Corvo

kceire wrote: »

I was told that 2014 was a bad year for insurance claims. The underwriters didn't foresee it been so bad and now the rates have rocketed to show this. I was also told that they expect it to level off this year allowing the rates to level off for next year or the year after.

But it's any bodies guess.

Hmm. I doubt it will level off, to be honest. I spoke to a very experienced ex-RSA underwriter (I don't have an underwriting background myself) who expects premiums to double...i.e. lowest premiums would be in the €600+ mark in comparison to some people who now have €300+ premiums.

_davidsmith_

Thanks for this info, that was the point in this thread. To get actual info from people in the game and see if there is any fix coming down, because the companies have an advantage of providing something that is a legal requirement.

dr.fuzzenstein

_davidsmith_ wrote: »

Thanks for this info, that was the point in this thread. To get actual info from people in the game and see if there is any fix coming down, because the companies have an advantage of providing something that is a legal requirement.

They don't have an advantage, though. From what I see, premiums would have to start at €1k and only go up from there, but there would be public outcry. Not that the government would give a flying fcuk. There would be hand wringing and some posturing, but nothing will be done ultimately.

Corvo

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

They don't have an advantage, though. From what I see, premiums would have to start at €1k and only go up from there, but there would be public outcry. Not that the government would give a flying fcuk. There would be hand wringing and some posturing, but nothing will be done ultimately.

Well it won't be just their personal lines books that see increases. Nearly all forms of insurance are increasing by some distance. I look after HGV's, Couriers etc. and have seen some outrageous increases across the board.

I imagine it is the same with commercial properties and other forms of policies.

_davidsmith_

Ive no idea how to even start fixing this.

What im worried will happen is that this trend in huge percentage increases will force more uninsured drivers onto the road. And the majority of the people they hurt are the fools who bother to pay their already ridiculous premium, and that premium will then skyrocket by having a claim when there is an incident involving an uninsured vehicle.