what can be done about the business insurance crisis?

pgj2015

I know of several businesses who operate high risk businesses for example, water parks, child play centres etc who cant get insurance now due to claims.

This is going to result in business people not setting up these kinds of businesses and therefore not providing employment.

I know they are slowly making changes to insurance issues (exaggerated claims) in Ireland but what can be done in this area?

I heard of someone who operates such a business and you have to sign a form before you take part that says he insured and any injury you might suffer is not his responsibility. is this legal? and if so why cant all these high risk businesses get customers to sign such forms?

Del2005

Make it that you can't sue for an unreported incident. Too many companies have had their insurance pay out after someone reports an "injury" 6 months after the "event" when there's little chance of the CCTV still being available. If there's no record in the premises and no CCTV of the incident then no money.

Waivers are useless. You can't sign away your rights and that's what a waiver is trying to do.

pgj2015

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117662837#Comment_117662837

I suspected that the waivers weren't worth the paper they were written on.

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058200771/what-can-be-done-about-the-business-insurance-crisis

It is a general insurance crisis, brought about by lack of political action around claims culture, lack of competition and lack of meaningful regulation. The reliance on market forces and the advice to 'shop around and use your consumer power', doesn't work in a dysfunctional market.

This is not just an insurance issue either, the same conditions and resulting rip off are evident in the energy supply market, the telecoms market, the waste disposal/collection market etc, etc,etc.

Free market forces, without effective regulation will result in the consumer losing out.... always.

Atlantic Dawn

There should be a publically accessable register showing how much each claimant has received along with any other historic lifetime claims. This should include the solicitor and also medical doctor who certified the seriousness of the injury.

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117662951#Comment_117662951

The insurance industry and lobby absolutely love people who think like you. They spend so much money on advertising and lobbying propagating the notion of a 'claims culture' that when absolute marks repeat it for them, they positively purr.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665433#Comment_117665433

Have a look at who is representing the majority of claimants, have a look at who is certifying medical reports, you will notice a clear pattern.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665433#Comment_117665433

You might find that most people don't ever have any personal injury claims and then there's people with a litany of them. ... Amazing that people can be so dam accident prone.

There needs to be a common sense approach to awards, defence of claims and a mandatory minimum percentage of your insurance business for recreational businesses to operate in this country.

The system is not equitable today for the customers who pay for their premiums frankly.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665433#Comment_117665433

Why have numerous insurance companies legged it out of Ireland?

Did they get sick of the weather? Or something else like the rediculous payouts ?!

Yurt2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665726#Comment_117665726

Because incumbents are a cartel

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665733#Comment_117665733

Iirc only one crowd in the UK remained to insure leisure centres etc and now they've stopped.

It doesn't seem like a cartel to me, nobody wants to touch it with a bargepole

pgj2015

Does anyone know if the situation is the same in other countries or how do they deal with this problem?

enricoh

Payouts here are 4.5 times what they are in the uk, international insurers are leaving paddy to it as a result.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665733#Comment_117665733

We've had several new entrants to the motor insurance market offering lower costs. Do you know what happened to them? We are all paying extra on our policies to cover the liabilities each of them left when they collapsed and left thousands of motorists with no insurance.

Insurance companies for non motoring policies are abandoning the country. Why when they are in a cosy cartel are they running away from such a lucrative market?

Ger Roe

Sometimes customers also have to take some of the blame. We don't switch enough. I know many people who never question what they are charged, or else will make a call to a competitor and then stay with their incumbent provider, if they match the lower quote.

I always change without giving my current insurer notice, if I get a better deal. Why should I offer them a chance to retain the business when they have obviously tried to take advantage of me already being a customer of theirs?. In my 35 + years of driving, it has been very rarely that my current insurer has offered me a winning renewal quote.

The thing is, they don't seem too bothered when I don't renew with them - they must be doing OK if they don't feel the pressure of competition.

The same goes for energy supply - always shop around as soon as your contract is up, and rarely have I found savings in bundle deals of gas and electricity with the one supplier - more often than not, it is cheaper to go separately with the best offer for each.

There is no reward for loyalty in these markets, quite the opposite in fact. The only way to force change, is to use what limited power the consumer still has and change provider for your advantage.

SEPT 23 1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117667144#Comment_117667144

there is very few underwriters left who will insure high risk businesses in this country due to the claim culture here

those who will can name their price