Liberty Insurance committed to Ireland despite 130% jump in pre-tax losses

Liberty Insurance remains committed to the Irish market and intends to compete for new business with attractive premiums despite suffering a 130% increase in pre-tax losses last year.

The company has found the going tough since entering the Irish insurance market in 2011 when it took a 51% stake in Quinn Insurance while a sector-wide deterioration of the claims environment has done little to help.

Higher claims costs helped nudge its 2014 losses up to €27.7m, an increase of 130% on the €12.03m loss it recorded the previous year.