Aviva Insurance Ireland said its gross written premiums rose by 12 per cent last year to €584 million, due to strong growth in its personal and commercial lines business.
Irish motor insurance premiums rose 11.4 per cent and home coverage pricing increased 8.3 per cent in 2024, according to the Central Statistics Offices, with insurers attributing this mainly to increases in spare parts, construction materials and labour costs.
Still, Aviva Insurance Ireland said the average price of car insurance in Ireland is lower than it was in 2017. This is largely due to the setting of personal injury award guidelines by the judicial council in 2021 which were much lower than the previous benchmark document, known as the book of quantum, along with other reforms.
However, Aviva Insurance Ireland said that it was “dismayed” to see the judicial council propose in December an overall increase of 16.7 per cent in damages awarded for personal injuries to reflect general inflation in recent years.
“We support proportionate compensation for those injured and pay all covered claims as quickly as possible, but Ireland’s awards for minor injuries are already many multiples of awards in both the EU and UK,” Aviva Insurance Ireland chief executive Declan O’Rourke said.
“We believe an increase of this magnitude at this time is not in the best interest of society as a whole and will reverse the positive impact of the decade long government action plan for reform.”
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He added: “We are asking government to send this draft back to the judicial council to review the categories of injury individually to ensure they are fair to all parties, and to properly benchmark our awards with other EU countries.”
Aviva Insurance Ireland’s operating profit was little changed at €73 million last year, compared to €72 million for 2023.
The insurer launched a health insurance joint venture, called Level Health, in November with a group of industry veterans launches with claims that it can offer “meaningful savings” to customers, following a series of price hikes by the three existing players in the market.
Level Health is led by chief executive Jim Dowdall, a former head of Aviva in Ireland, and chaired by one-time VHI head Oliver Tattan. Aviva Insurance Ireland will underwrite the company’s health policies.
Mr O’Rourke said he is “very happy” with the health insurer’s progress to date.
Elsewhere, French insurance giant Axa also reported results for last year, though they did not give much detail on the performance of its Irish business, the largest general insurer in the market.
Axa said that it recorded lower motor volumes in the UK and Ireland, which it bundles together as one unit for financial reporting purposes. It signalled that it increased prices in the division to rebuild profitability.
