Sinn Féin TD for Tipperary Martin Browne is accusing the insurance industry of pocketing savings brought about by recent reforms instead of giving customers lower premiums. 95% of the 1,390 respondents to a survey on motor insurance, conducted by Sinn Féin indicated that their premiums have increased in the past 12 months, while 98% of respondents said they had made no claim against their policy in the same period.
Deputy Browne says the party has draft legislation that would hold the industry to account and apply downward pressure on insurance premiums by having it report data to the Central Bank. The Cashel based TD is highlighting that the industry did make allegations that fraudulent claims were driving up insurance costs however the incidents reported to Garda by Insurance companies was only a fraction of the 20 percent of all claims that they had previously claimed to be fraudulent.
Deputy Browne pointed to Sinn Fein legislation approved by the Dáil in 2019 that banned the unfair and discriminatory practice where insurance companies were artificially hiking the premiums of customers renewing their policies. Noting that the sector reported profits of €159M million in 2022 alone the TD says more can be done to protect consumers who are legally obliged to have insurance in many instances.
