Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Feb 1994

Vol. 439 No. 2

Written Answers. - Insurance Statistics.

Seamus Kirk

Question:

61 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the total amount of employer liability insurance premia paid in 1992; the total amount of public liability insurance premia paid in the year 1992; and the total amount of vehicle insurance paid in the year 1992.

Seamus Kirk

Question:

62 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will provide comparison statistics for motor insurance premia in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and Finland for the years 1992 and 1993.

Seamus Kirk

Question:

63 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the average amount of personal motor injury compensation awards for the year 1991 in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland and Italy.

Seamus Kirk

Question:

64 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the number of personal injury compensation claims arising from road accidents lodged in Ireland during the years 1992 and 1993; the average cost of compensatory awards for the years 1992 and 1993; and the total cost of compensation awards to the insurance industry for the years 1992 and 1993.

Seamus Kirk

Question:

65 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the number of employer liability compensation claims lodged in the years 1982 and 1992; the average amount of compensation awards for the years 1982 and 1992; and the total amount of employer liability compensation awards for 1992.

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. Quinn)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65 together.

Data are not available in the precise form requested by the Deputy in every case. Moreover, statistics for 1993 are not yet available.

Premia

Earned premium income for motor insurance in 1992 was £522,039,000 and for liability insurance £153,783,000.

A breakdown of the figure for liability insurance between employer's liability and public liability is not available.

A survey carried out by the Motor Insurance Advisory Board in 1992 showed that the average premium per registered vehicle in Ireland; the United Kingdom; France and Finland, respectively was IR£401; IR£268; IR£266; and IR£130.

Claims-Awards

Statistics available to my Department show that the average cost of motor insurance claims for 1991 in Ireland and the United Kingdom was IR£4,205 and IR£995 respectively (in 1992 prices). For 1992 the comparative figures were £4,574 for Ireland and £1,003 for the UK.

A survey carried out by the Irish Insurance Federation at the request of my Department showed that personal injury compensation represented 67 per cent of the total cost of 1991 motor insurance claims in Ireland, although in terms of numbers of claims personal injury claims equate to about 35 per cent of claims, a survey by independent consultants confirmed similar statistics for 1992. It has further been established that the pain and suffering element represents about 75 per cent of the total cost of personal injury compensation.

The total number of employer's liability claims in 1982 was 6,990 at an average cost of £9,818 (1992 prices) per claim. This compares with a total of 8,823 claims in 1992 (there has been a drop in claim numbers since 1989) at an average cost of £10,556 per claim. The total cost of employer's liability claims for 1992 is now put at £93,131,000.