AA Ireland Welcomes Joint Committee Report on Motor Insurance
AA Ireland welcomes the publication of today’s report from the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform on plans to tackle the current motor insurance crisis which includes many proposals first made by the motoring organisation in November 2015.
“This is a good day in that a lot of the recommendations that we have been pressing hard for have been endorsed by the Committee.” Says Director of Consumer Affairs Conor Faughnan. “The Committee heard evidence from a lot of groups and witnesses and has produced a very strong set of recommendations that AA supports. A good days’ work for the motoring consumer.”
The Oireachtas Committee’s report will be followed in the coming weeks by recommendations from the Motor Insurance Working Group, chaired by Minister of State Eoghan Murphy, which the AA hopes will provide detailed commitments on implementing the measures identified.
“We appeared before the committee in September and we have met with Minister Murphy and his team.” Says Faughnan. “We have been encouraged by those engagements but of course the motorist wants a clear answer on when the insurance crisis will be solved and premiums will come down. Implementation is now the key task.”
Among the 71 proposals in the report are key measures identified by the AA. These include the establishment of an integrated data hub to facilitate data sharing between insurers, the State and the Gardaí. There is also a recommendation to abolish paper windscreen discs and move to a modern camera-based system. The report also contains several recommendations in relation to the strengthening of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), improving the strength of regulation of the industry and a compulsion on insurance companies to share data. The importance of the Book of Quantum to make injury awards consistent was also stressed.
“We have no doubt that these measures taken together will give us a far better insurance industry and in turn will see much fairer treatment of the motorist, who is the one who ultimately pays for it all.” Says Faughnan.
These measures, first proposed by AA Ireland in its 5 point plan issued in November 2015 and further highlighted during the organisation’s appearance in front of the committee in September 2016, are among the most important proposals contained in the report and must be implemented if motor insurance costs are to be brought sustainably under control.