With motor insurance rising at an extreme rate, by an average of 35% over 12 months to May of this year, Insight will investigate and examine the reasons the industry gives to justify the hefty rises in insurance premiums, this Monday, 8th August at 8pm on UTV Ireland. ‘Insight: Motor Insurance – Why are we Paying So Much?’ speaks to people from all sectors of society whose premiums have risen dramatically and examine the reasons behind these rises.
Insight discusses these issues with taxi drivers, who say there may be forced out of the trade; car rental companies struggling to adjust and truck drivers, some who have had to install cameras in their vehicles to stop claims driving up their insurance premiums.
Speaking to Insight about the effect that the rises in premiums have had on his company Tower Cabs in Limerick, owner Tony Hannon explained:
“Last year I got a renewal €56,000, I thought it was a misprint so I rang them,”. They said no, that’s the way things are gone. From €16,000 the previous year. And no satisfaction, just, if you’re not happy, move on.”
Tower Cabs has a fleet of eight taxis and paid €7,000 for insurance in 2013 and €16,000 in 2014. The company ended up paying €31,000 to a different insurer for eight taxis last year, but this year can’t even get a quote.
“I have eight drivers losing their jobs now in August over this situation. It’ll be a devastating blow to receive”, said Tony Hannon. Private car owner Damien O’Kelly told Insight he got a big shock recently when he went to renew his insurance on his 2006 Subaru Forester.
“We’ll I was paying €840 last year for fully comprehensive. When I went to get a policy this year I actually thought I misheard, I thought he said €590 and I asked him to repeat the quote and he said €1590 and I nearly fell off my seat. How is it possible to jump that amount? He said that’s the market now, things have changed. I think as more people are renewing their policies in the following months they’ll actually find out how devastatingly high the insurance policies are for people.”
Limerick TD Tom Neville told Insight that car insurance was a big issue among his constituents around the general election. In the programme he stresses that many drivers in rural Ireland don’t have access to regular public transport and therefore a car is a necessity. He also has personal experience of struggling to get a reasonable quote, having returned to Ireland from Australia to find his insurance had skyrocketed.
“I came back to rural Ireland and had to look for a job. I needed a car to get to interviews. I’d been driving since 1996. I’d been paying €550 before I left in 2009 and when I came back in 2013 I was being quoted astronomical figures of €1500 and €1600 because my no claims bonus was gone because I’d been living out of the country over two years.”
Insight: Motor Insurance – Why are We paying So Much’ airs on Monday 8th August at 8pm, exclusively on UTV Ireland.
