Insurers who refuse to give quotes will be required to explain why, in writing, under an interim code of conduct drawn up by the financial services watchdog IFSRA.

The code, which will become law in the next fortnight, will also prohibit insurers from insisting that collateral business be placed with them before a quote is provided, a delegation from IFSRA told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business inquiry into insurance costs.

The interim code, drawn up in the wake of recommendations by the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, is to be refined in a far-reaching review next year, according to Ms Mary O'Dea, IFSRA consumer director.

Insurance queries accounted for 40 per cent of the 4,000 calls made to IFSRA's consumer helpline in the seven months since its establishment, according to Ms O'Dea.

A third of these calls referred to motor insurance, 10 per cent to travel insurance and 10 per cent to home insurance, IFSRA said.

The remainder were spread among a number of areas, including public liability insurance.

The organisation will publish a comparative survey of the cost of motor insurance next month in an attempt to increase the level of transparency, revealed Ms O'Dea.

It is also to issue a guide on insurance, setting out the do's and don'ts of shopping for a policy in lay-person's terms, she said.

Concerns over the lack of competition in the insurance industry has prompted IFSRA to discuss co-operation on future projects with the Competition Authority, the delegation said.

In a later presentation by the Alliance for Insurance Reform, the committee was told that its call for an increase in the level of compensation awards payable by lower courts would inevitably result in higher claims - with the knock on effect of raising premiums.

"This will lead to increased award amounts being given to unworthy claims - eventually to the maximum of the limit amounts in both the district and circuit courts," said Mr Gerard McCaughey, chair of the alliance.

The organisation also cautioned the committee from being swayed by vested interests - and in particular by the legal profession.

The delegation said it had "grave reservations" about the behaviour of some brokers, accusing them of engaging in anti-competitive practices, including price-fixing and of a lack of transparency.