The Minister of State, Seán Fleming TD, welcomes today’s publication of the third National Claims Information Database (NCID) report on private motor insurance
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The Minister of State with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, Seán Fleming TD, welcomes today’s publication of the third National Claims Information Database (NCID) report on private motor insurance.
“I would like to acknowledge publication of the Central Bank NCID motor report, undated to end 2020. This represents a rich source of data which will be carefully considered by Government as the insurance reform agenda continues. The NCID remains the best tool to holding both insurers and the legal profession to account for their respective contribution in influencing the cost and availability of insurance. The new Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines enacted in 2021 are a significant development in terms of settling claims and in future reports the Bank will look to begin assessing their impact”.
The Minister also notes that it is possible to see the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this report, with a significant reduction in the number of private motor claims and a subsequent decline in claims costs. As also highlighted by the CSO, the downward trajectory in motor premium prices continues – down 7 per cent in 2020 and 16 per cent from their peak at the end of 2017, with rebates to customers during 2020 playing a small role in this. The Minister welcomes these decreased premiums and the wider softening of the motor insurance market since 2017. Enhancements from previous reports are included with further improvements planned.
2020 was the fourth consecutive year of profits for motor insurers, with operating profits across the sector standing at 12 per cent, following considerable losses made between 2014 and 2016. The Minister notes that it is important to have a financially stable and profitable insurance sector to attract providers, and they are hopeful that volatility in profits and losses seen in the past will no longer be a feature of the Irish market. They note it is now more important than ever that firms provide cover to sectors currently experiencing shortages in other areas of cover such as public and professional liability insurance, and pass savings being made to their customers. Over the course of this week Minister of State Fleming will be meeting the CEOs of the main insurers to discuss this and other issues.
Note to Editors
The Central Bank of Ireland has today (16 November 2021) published the third annual Private Motor Insurance Report of the National Claims Information Database (NCID). The NCID compiles aggregate data received from insurers. This allows the Central Bank to publish an annual report containing analysis on the cost of premiums, the cost of claims, the aggregated financial performance of firms providing this insurance, and key settlement channel information. The NCID is intended to facilitate a more in-depth analysis of annual trends in insurance claims. This was seen as key to developing an understanding of how claims costs are impacting premiums, in particular understanding the relationship between the price paid by a customer for motor insurance and the cost to insurance undertakings. Increased data availability also allows insurance firms to plan for costs into the future, which in turn should provide stability in relation to premium prices, and benefit consumers.
This third annual Motor Insurance Report of the NCID captures data for the calendar year 2020. The impact of Covid-19 is therefore highlighted within the report.
The Central Bank has identified the following key findings -
In terms of injury claim settlements for claims settled between 2019 and 2020:
In terms of injury claim settlements between 2015 and 2020 and duration of claim:
For 94% of claimants, the total cost of a claim was less than €100K and the average settled costs for these claims were: