Anger at rising cost of motor insurance

August 1993

Mounting anger at the escalating price of motor insurance brought a full house to a public meeting held in Enniscorthy’s Murphy Floods Hotel last week.

A county-wide committee was established on the night to try bring pressure to bear on the Government and the insurance companies to change the position.

Most of those at the protest were young drivers or would-be drivers facing four-figure demands for cover. Tales of the difficulties they faced were legion, as speak after speaker voiced despair and frustration. These included:

- one man who said his premium had risen from £700 to £1,300 even though he had no accident;

- another man whose cover has gone up more than £500 over the past two years;

- a father who said the cost of insuring his three young people had gone up from £1,000 to £2,650;

- a man who said the PMPA refused to cover him, purely because he works as a barman,

- and another man who said his policy went up by £600 after he reported being in an accident, even though the other driver accepted blame and paid for the damage himself, with no actual insurance claim arising.

Deputies Brendan Howlin, Ivan Yates, and John Browne were all on hand to hear the complaints.

Deputy Yates said there was a seven-fold loading on young people, and pressed a series of solutions which have been suggested by Fine Gael. These included impounding uninsured vehicles, introducing measures to reduce legal costs associated with claims, and opening up the market to competition from European insurance companies.

Other possibilities mentioned during the meeting were putting the cost of insurance onto the price of petrol, and introducing set figures for compensation awards.