What Came Down, Originally Went Up
27/11/06 23:16 Filed in: Politics
The
PDs
have
launched a
major poster campaign, in which they claim
that by their doing, car insurance has fallen by
45%. They back up their claim by pointing to the
Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, set up by
Health Minister and former leader Mary Harney, and
a more vague "streamlining" of court proceedings by
Justice Minister and current leader Michael
McDowell.
Fine. But insurance premiums ballooned earlier this decade not because of a sudden increase in "compo culture" or an unnaturally high number of road accidents. It was because the big insurance companies were losing a lot of money due to the softening equity markets, and also in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the USA in September 2001. Ireland had then (and continues to have) a highly uncompetitive insurance market, and so the insurance companies just charged what they wanted for essential products like motor, home, mortgage protection, public & employee liability, etc., and Joe Public had no choice but to pony up.
Since then, equities have come back and the big insurance companies have been able to make their profits at less expense to the average punter. Thus premiums have fallen.
What the government helped in a small way to return insurance premiums to their normal levels, but it is a bit rich of the PDs to claim all the credit for it. It should be remembered as well that the original ballooning of premiums happened under the FF/PD coalition too.
Fine. But insurance premiums ballooned earlier this decade not because of a sudden increase in "compo culture" or an unnaturally high number of road accidents. It was because the big insurance companies were losing a lot of money due to the softening equity markets, and also in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the USA in September 2001. Ireland had then (and continues to have) a highly uncompetitive insurance market, and so the insurance companies just charged what they wanted for essential products like motor, home, mortgage protection, public & employee liability, etc., and Joe Public had no choice but to pony up.
Since then, equities have come back and the big insurance companies have been able to make their profits at less expense to the average punter. Thus premiums have fallen.
What the government helped in a small way to return insurance premiums to their normal levels, but it is a bit rich of the PDs to claim all the credit for it. It should be remembered as well that the original ballooning of premiums happened under the FF/PD coalition too.