Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 May 2017
73. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons that applied on an annual basis to the declined cases agreement for motor insurance since its establishment; the number of applications that proved successful; the average premium per successful application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22553/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt the outset, the Deputy should note that as Minister for Finance, I am not responsible for the operation of the Declined Cases Agreement and therefore do not have direct access to the data that is being requested.
As you are aware, under the Declined Cases Agreement, the insurance market undertakes not to refuse to provide third party motor insurance to an individual where they have approached at least three insurers. This is necessary given the mandatory nature of third party motor insurance in Ireland. Insurance Ireland operates the Declined Cases Agreement on a voluntary basis as a means of ensuring that persons seeking motor insurance will obtain cover. The Agreement is only triggered if an individual is unable to obtain a quotation in the open market, i.e. a person has to have approached at least three insurers without being able to obtain cover from them.
In order to be as helpful as I can, my officials contacted Insurance Ireland about your information request. In response they have provided me with statistics on the number of cases they have dealt with which are set out in the table below. In relation to these cases Insurance Ireland has informed me that they secured a quotation for the applicants in question through the Agreement and that they therefore consider all of these applications to have been successful. With regard to information on the average premium per successful application, I am informed that this is a matter for individual insurers and that this information is therefore not recorded by Insurance Ireland.
|
Year |
No. of Cases |
|
2016 |
1941 |
|
2015 |
1164 |
|
2014 |
669 |
|
2013 |
308 |
|
2012 |
178 |
|
2011 |
169 |
|
2010 |
130 |
|
2009 |
115 |
|
2008 |
53 |
|
2007 |
72 |
|
2006 |
152 |
|
2005 |
246 |
|
2004 |
310 |
|
2003 |
379 |
|
2002 |
393 |
|
2001 |
478 |
|
2000 |
328 |
|
1999 |
329 |
|
1998 |
297 |
|
1997 |
306 |
|
1996 |
348 |
|
1995 |
350 |
It should be noted that the Cost of Insurance Working Group examined the issue of the Declined Cases Agreement, on foot of receiving a number of submissions and queries from individuals about its operation. In light of feedback from members of the public, the Working Group recommended that the Declined Cases Agreement process should be made more transparent. In this regard, Insurance Ireland are scheduled to provide a report by the end of June and annually thereafter to my Department on the operation of the Agreement, including on the cases submitted and resolved, and also on cases where a premium and/or terms are so excessive as to be tantamount to a refusal. The Working Group also recommended that Insurance Ireland should provide further information on its website with regard to the recourse a consumer should have in cases where there is not a satisfactory outcome through the Declined Cases Agreement. The first quarterly report on the implementation of the CIWG’s recommendations has reported that Insurance Ireland has made the necessary alterations to its website in order to provide more prominent information in respect of the Declined Cases Agreement on the home page and that work has commenced on their first annual report on the operation of the agreement.
