Motor Insurance Premiums continue to soar as Gov’t drags its feet on Motor Insurance Database

Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Mid-West, John Curran, has said that the Government is failing to deliver a properly functioning motor insurance database with the insurance industry to show who is insured and who is not. This database has the potential to significantly reduce the price of insurance premiums which are crippling households and businesses across the county.

“Over the past number of years, we have seen extraordinary premium increases, since 2015 motorists have seen the cost of their premiums rocket by 50% and despite the issue generating interest in the media, the Government has been slow to take any action to address the problem.

“I have raised the need to urgently progress the establishment of a properly functioning motor insurance database with the Minister on number of occasions over the past 12 months,” said Deputy Curran.

“In May 2016 I was informed of the Minister’s plans to form a motor insurance database with the insurance industry to show the insured status of persons, in order to reduce premiums for all motorists. The following September I was assured that the database would be ready for use by early 2017.

“In my most recent Parliamentary Question, the Minister states that the database will now only be ready for piloting by An Garda Síochána from September 2017, but that it is not expected to be fully operational until the end of 2018.

“The establishment of this database is critical to enabling An Garda Síochána to better check and enforce motor insurance compliance which will assist in reducing the level of uninsured driving.
“Uninsured drivers cost the industry and insured drivers €50 to €60 million approx. per annum, yet the Minister has shown a complete lack of interest and lack of urgency on this matter despite it affecting every insured driver nationwide,” he added.

“It has taken the Government too long to wake up to the problem; there is no sense of urgency and this is deeply worrying for the thousands of motorists struggling to pay their premiums.
“The Government is simply not giving this crisis the attention it needs so that the rip-off culture which has perpetrated the insurance industry over the last few years is effectively tackled”, concluded Curran.