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Insurance Industry

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 February 2022

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Questions (223)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

223. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider legislative changes to monitor the passing on of savings from insurers to consumers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8772/22]

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Written answers

I note that the question refers to the impact of the Personal Injuries Guidelines on insurance premiums. At the outset, I would like to point out that there is no single solution to reducing insurance costs. This is why the Government is pursuing insurance reform on a whole-of-Government basis, through 66 cross-departmental actions in the Insurance Reform Action Plan, including, but not limited to, the Personal Injuries Guidelines.

The National Claims Information Database (NCID) has already proven to be an excellent tool when it comes to collecting information on the cost of claims and pricing trends. The NCID will continue to contribute to evidence-based decision making and will help to provide greater market-focussed transparency in the insurance sector. 

The Central Bank indicated in its most recent NCID Motor Report that it intends to collect additional claim settlement data for all classes of business within the remit of the NCID so as to obtain further information on the impact of the Personal Injuries Guidelines on claims settlement. I understand that it intends to collect data that will allow it to distinguish claims settled under the new Guidelines from those settled under previous arrangements (i.e. the Book of Quantum), which will provide insight into the impact of the Guidelines on settling claims.

In light of these proposed enhancements, I believe that the NCID remains an effective mechanism to objectively monitor whether savings arising from the Guidelines, as well as the suite of other reform measures being pursued by this Government, are being passed on to customers.  Accordingly, no further legislative changes are necessitated at this point.

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