Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
247. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the amount reported by insurance companies to the Central Bank as having been paid out on motor insurance claims in each of the years 2013 to 2017; if the Central Bank has data on the number of claims the total payouts relate to; the value of premium receipts for the years in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33802/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra373. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Finance the amount paid out annually in motor insurance claims from all insurance companies. [35036/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 247 and 373 together.
In relation to the Deputy’s query, the Central Bank of Ireland has provided me with data on gross paid claims for Irish motor insurance claims in the years 2013 to 2017. This data which is set out in the table below includes both private and commercial motor insurance, and excludes the costs associated with the settlement of these claims.
The data reflect the business of insurance undertakings prudentially supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland (6 undertakings) and undertakings operating on a freedom of establishment basis (3 undertakings). It does not however include any data related to insurance undertakings operating in Ireland under freedom to provide services. The Central Bank also notes that these claim numbers do not represent a constant market size and/or share as, for example, the number of vehicles insured by these undertaking will have varied each year.
|
Calendar year |
Gross paid claims (€m) |
|
2013 |
869 |
|
2014 |
932 |
|
2015 |
921 |
|
2016 |
956 |
|
2017 |
953 |
The Central Bank does not collect information on the number of claims or earned premiums at a level of granularity that allow for the identification of Irish motor insurance business. However, it advises that direct comparison of earned premiums to paid claims is not necessarily appropriate, as it is important to also consider the reserves set aside to meet claims that have not yet been settled and/or notified.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group has recommended the establishment of a National Claims Information Database to improve the level of transparency and the availability of information in the insurance sector. I recently published the legislation required to underpin that Database, the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Bill 2018, and I am hopeful that with the cooperation of all parties in the Houses, it can be considered and approved expeditiously to have the database in place as soon as possible.
The Deputy may also be interested to view the Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Motor Insurance Key Information Reports which are published on my Department’s website. In advance of the establishment of the National Claims Information Database, these reports endeavour to provide some information on key aggregated metrics in relation to motor insurance. The most recent of these reports was published in May 2018 and provides some information and data on amongst other things earned premium and related claims costs in Parts 5 and 2 respectively.- see attached link https://www.finance.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/second-motor-insurancekey-info-report-may-2018.pdf .
