15th November 2025
7th November 2025 Highland Radio Broadcast
On the penultimate show for 2025 the report from the Central Bank on the cost of Motor Insurance was up for discussion. Greg Hughes referenced the point in relation to repair costs and the impact they are having on premiums. Seamus Gunn said despite the ongoing discussion and contributions from Alliance for Insurance Reform and Insurance Ireland, none have explained how what is reported as a 9% increase in the cost of motor insurance could be justified when the average cost of claims had only increased by 3%. It would seem that the difference has not been analysed to date. Gunn said that while insurance profits were down to around 4% for 2024 from 12% in 2022, damage claims now accounted for 54% of settled claims’ costs which was in stark contrast to Injury Claims which, over the same period, were down in or around 30% on 2020 values. Our contributor said that on his interpretation he did not see this saving being passed on to the consumer as policy premiums continued to rise. He said that for some time the legal profession was being highlighted as adding significantly to the costs of claims due to litigation but he was of the view that legal costs could be avoided if the insurance companies were more proactive in dealing with claims at an earlier stage and engaging positively to settle. The statistics speak for themselves and while insurance companies can continue to complain, they still are reaping the profits, yet no one explains the difference of 6% our contributor referenced at the start of the discussion today. He also thought that there could be more scrutiny in dealing with the damage/repair claims which are having such an impact on the cost of cover. In the meantime, the ordinary consumer continues to pay while there are still many questions left unanswered.
The varied Q&A that followed can be listened to below.