Road Safety Authority chief appointed to head Insurance Ireland

Insurance Ireland has named Moyagh Murdock, currently head of the Road Safety Authority, as its next chief executive, effective from March.

“This is a challenging time for consumers and insurance providers and I look forward to engaging with stakeholders and to working collaboratively with them to ensure we implement changes which will provide a stable and well-underpinned sector which delivers for all of its customers,” said Ms Murdock in a statement issued by the insurance lobby body on Monday.

Ms Murdock, who has been chief executive of the Road Safety Authority since 2014, succeeds Kevin Thompson at Insurance Ireland. He left the group late last year to become chief executive for UK-owned RSA Insurance Ireland.

The industry has found itself subject of heightened political criticism since a Central Bank report published in the middle of last month showed that the cost of motor insurance claims fell by 2.5 per cent between 2009 and 2018 but premiums rose by 42 per cent.

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This has led to claims from Minister of State with responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance Michael D’Arcy, among others, that the industry is now seeking to make “significant profits” to claw back losses made earlier in the decade, resulting from a period of underpricing.