MOTORISTS may be spared any further rise in the cost of car insurance this year, despite earlier warnings.

The State's biggest motor insurer, Guardian PM PA, has hinted that it might not have to increase its premiums following a marked improvement in the number of claims against the company in the first three months of 1997.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Guardian PMPA said it had no plans to increase rates at the moment. He warned, however, that this improving trend in claims would have to be sustained for sometime before it could rule out any hike in premiums in the longer term.

Guardian PMPA has outlined this position to the Department of Enterprise and Employment. Speaking in the Dail yesterday, the Minister for Commerce Science and Technology, Mr Rabbitte, said the company had "assured" him that no further general increases in motor insurance premiums were envisaged provided the trend continued.

"I would hope that other insurers would also take account of developments in their assessment of premium rate levels in the coming months," Mr Rabbitte said.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail's spokesman on insurance, Mr Ned O'Keeffe, called for an investigation into motor insurance costs. Mr O'Keeffe yesterday urged that additional inspectors be appointed to the Department's insurance division to investigate motor insurance charges.

Guardian PMPA chief executive, Mr Gerard Healy, warned earlier this year that the company might be forced to raise its rates over the coming six months. Guardian's pre-tax profits fell by 38 per cent last year from £105.1 million to £64.3 million.