Press release
Minister D’Arcy welcomes publication of the Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Eighth Quarterly Progress Update
Published on
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Published on
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The publication of the Working Group’s Eighth Progress Update marks the last of the deadlines within the Action Plan of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance, which passed at the end of 2018 and, therefore, this Progress Update concentrates in particular on the status of all the recommendations from that Report.
On an overall basis, Minister of State D’Arcy believes that the position in relation to the implementation of the Motor Report is positive. Of the 33 recommendations, 29 have either been completed, are categorised as “ongoing” and in respect of which work is continuing, or have been concluded in so far as the direct involvement of the Cost of Insurance Working Group is concerned. In the case of the latter category, this decision has been taken in respect of a number of linked recommendations addressed to the Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport regarding the expedition of two large-scale, long-term, multi-agency projects – namely, the Motor Third Party Liability database and the Master Licence Record – the origin of which predates the existence of the Working Group and are ultimately dependent on factors lying outside the Working Group’s direct control. It is important to note that these projects will continue to be implemented; however, the timescale for completion is likely to be sometime in 2021.
As regards the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance, five of the seven Q4 2018 action points have been achieved, while the one incomplete action from the previous quarter has also been finalised. Minister of State D’Arcy is confident that the two outstanding action points out of the total of 26 which were due during 2018 overall will be finished during the first half of this year.
Included in the Eighth Progress Update is detail on the implementation of the recommendations of the Personal Injuries Commission. Part 3 of the Update details the significant progress being made in areas such as the standardisation of the approach to examination and reporting on soft tissue injuries and the roll out of ‘best practice’ standard treatment plans for soft tissue injuries. The PIC recommendations show the breadth of the issues that arise within the insurance umbrella and the extent of the work that is taking place across so many different areas to try to tackle the issues.
On the legislative front there has been considerable progress in the last number of months. The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 (No. 3 of 2019) has been enacted and is due to be commenced shortly by statutory instrument to be signed by Minister Humphries. The Act will strengthen the functioning of the Board in a number of ways, including dealing with issues of non-attendance at medicals and failure to provide details of special damages or loss of earnings. Meanwhile, the Central Bank published the Non-Life Insurance (Provision of Information) (Renewal of Policy of Insurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 in December, which will improve the level of premium information available to consumers as well as extending the renewal notification period from 1 November 2019. In addition, the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Act was commenced on 28 January. As well as leading to the full functioning of the database itself, this has ensured that the amendments to sections 8 and 14 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, required to make it easier for businesses and insurers to challenge cases where fraud or exaggeration is suspected, are now in force.
Minister of State D’Arcy said
“While these developments are positive, there is much left to do”.
“My focus over the next number of months will be on what I consider to undoubtedly be the single most essential challenge which must be overcome if there is to be a sustainable reduction in insurance costs, namely bringing the levels of damages awarded in this country more in line with those awarded in other jurisdictions.”
“In this regard, the Personal Injuries Commission’s second report has highlighted the significant differential between award levels in this country and the UK – 4.4 times for soft tissue injuries – and I believe that this gap needs to be significantly closed.”
“Both I and the Working Group will continue, in conjunction with all relevant parties, to explore all potential avenues to achieving this key objective.”
ENDS
Background Note to Editors:
The Cost of Insurance Working Group was initially chaired by the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr Eoghan Murphy T.D. However, following his appointment as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, he was replaced as Chair by Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Mr Michael D’Arcy T.D. The Working Group is comprised of representatives from the Department of Finance, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Justice and Equality, the Central Bank of Ireland, the State Claims Agency, and the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
The Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017 and made 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in an agreed timeframe. The Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance was published in January 2018 and made 15 recommendations with 29 associated actions to be carried out in an agreed timeframe.
There is a commitment in both Reports that the Working Group will prepare quarterly updates on its progress. Updates have been published in May, July and October of 2017 and February, May, August and November of 2018. All Updates provided details on how the implementation of the recommendations were progressing, with a particular focus on the action points which were due for completion during the respective quarters.
As the last of the deadlines within the Action Plan of the Motor Report passed at the end of 2018, this Update concentrates in particular on the status of all the recommendations from that Report. Of the 33 recommendations in the Motor Report, 29 have either been completed, are categorised as “ongoing” and in respect of which work is continuing, or have been concluded in so far as the direct involvement of the Cost of Insurance Working Group is concerned.
For the Employer and Public Liability Report, five of the seven Q4 2018 action points have been achieved, while the one incomplete action from the previous quarter has also been finalised. The two outstanding action points, out of the total of 26 which were due during 2018 overall, are expected to be finished during the first half of this year.
This Progress Update also includes an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Personal Injuries Commission Reports.