Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 December 2018
161. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons that have applied to the declined insurance scheme run by an organisation (details supplied) in each month in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53958/18]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, under the terms of the Declined Cases Agreement (DCA), which is adhered to by all motor insurers in Ireland, the insurance market will not refuse to provide insurance to an individual seeking motor insurance if he or she has approached at least three insurers and has not been able to obtain cover from them.
I am not responsible for the operation of the DCA and therefore I do not have direct access to the number of applications made under the DCA process during 2018 to date.
However, in order to be as helpful as I can, my officials contacted Insurance Ireland seeking the DCA application figures. In response, Insurance Ireland provided statistics on the number of cases it dealt with in the first half of 2018. In relation to these cases, Insurance Ireland has informed my officials that all applications submitted were accepted by Insurance Ireland for processing under the DCA.
The month-by-month figures for the first half of 2018 are:
|
Month |
Total |
|
January |
110 |
|
February |
96 |
|
March |
116 |
|
April |
129 |
|
May |
103 |
|
June |
106 |
Therefore, the total number of applications for the first half of 2018 was 660. This compares to 789 applications for the corresponding period in 2017.
It should be noted that the Cost of Insurance Working Group recommended the Declined Cases Agreement process should be made more transparent under the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance. On foot of this recommendation, Insurance Ireland agreed to submit an annual report on the operation of the Agreement to my Department. In the first such report, Insurance Ireland stated that it “believes that the time may be correct for a review of elements” of the Agreement. My Department accepted this proposal and has since hosted a number of workshops with relevant stakeholders who are examining what elements of the Agreement need to be amended or refined. I understand that the next such workshop is scheduled to take place in early 2019. I am also informed that the DCA figures for the whole of 2018 will be contained within the next annual report, which is due to be submitted by Insurance Ireland in the first quarter of next year.
