Are insurance premiums ever going to decrease?
Insurance premiums have been going through the roof in recent times and there does not seem to be any reduction in prices on the horizon which makes many ask the question if insurance premiums will ever decrease at all?
Communications Director and founding member of Bonkers.ie, Simon Moynihan believes that insurance costs have reached a "tipping point" with high premiums and limiting criteria and that we are "unlikely to see further increases".
Let's hope he is right and insurance costs have reached that tipping point where they will begin to drop back to somewhat normal prices. Mr Moynihan went on to say,
"I see costs stabilising and I don't think it will go up much more. That said, firms have managed to hit much higher premiums than before so I really don't see it coming down."
The Central Bank of Ireland released a report last month known as the Consumer Protection Bulletin, which is focused on the motor insurance sector.
The bulletin was compiled from data submitted by 24 motor insurance companies providing insurance to Irish personal consumers in 2016.
The report shows that a total of 11,502 complaints were received in the second half of 2016, representing 0.5pc of live policies and of the figure, 6.2pc made complaints in relation to motor insurance claims.
Another report by the Government this time, the Cost of Insurance Working Group Report outlines that court awards set the benchmark for all other awards.
On average, Circuit Court awards increased by 21.2pc in 2015, following a 13.5pc increase in 2014.
Kevin Thompson, Insurance Ireland CEO said:
"In addition, gross incurred claims (a measure of all claims paid and those not yet settled) increased by a total of 44pc from 2013-2015. This is the true effect of a volatile claims environment and highlighted the need for a policy response,".
"Insurers want predictable claims costs at a level society can afford and the impact of rising costs was evident in areas such as increases in uninsured driving, which is a major road safety issue.
"Insurance Ireland highlighted its solutions including bringing consistency to personal injury awards, measures to tackle whiplash, giving increased powers to the Injuries Board to handle more claims and prevent them going to litigation, internationally bench marking our high personal injury awards and introducing measures to reduce legal costs.
"Insurance Ireland believe this report alone does not reduce the risk and costs in the market but implementing the right policies can bring much needed stability and certainty for motorists."
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Justin Kavanagh
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