Motor insurance group to seek data on out of court settlements

A Government working group set up to deal with the rising cost of motor insurance will seek to gain access to details of out-of-court settlements as it looks to recommend measures that might put the brakes on premium rises.

In a speech to be delivered on Wednesday to the joint committee on finance, public expenditure and reform and to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the Minister of State for Financial Services Eoghan Murphy will tell members that one of the major shortcomings with existing arrangements is a lack of transparency around the cost of settling claims or awards in personal injuries cases that do not go through the courts or the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) .

“There is an absence of information from the industry on the number of personal injury claims settled, average injury settlement amount, average fees and average time taken to settle,” he will tell the committee.

Mr Murphy believes this is “crucial information” if the Government is to get to the “root cause” of the problem of rising insurance costs.

“Ultimately information such as this is important if we want to try and ensure consistency of awards whether they be made by the industry, the PIAB, or the courts.”

Resolution channels

The Cost of Insurance Working Group will also carry out analysis of the personal injury claims environment and the various claims resolution channels.

Other issues to be addressed include the lack of a link between the National Car Test and the availability of insurance; insurance costs for the young and those over 65; the case for rural dwellers with no public transport to have car insurance at a reasonable cost; the issue of returning immigrants having difficulty obtaining insurance; and the cost to taxi drivers, hackneys and hauliers.

At the first meeting of the working group in July, the National Transport Authority gave the example of the driver of a wheelchair-accessible taxi who received a Government grant but was also given an insurance quote of €12,000.

Mr Murphy wants to have identified "priority actions" by the end of October that will form the basis of an update report to the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.