Rents and insurance end 2015 with large hikes

Motorists and private tenants paying rents saw the largest increases for years, as costs of insurance and rents rose steeply again in December.

CSO figures published yesterday showed car insurance and private rents were the standout features of the consumer price index in 2015, registering sharp increases even as most other items, including food and interest payments on mortgages, either tumbled or rose only slightly in the year.

Car insurance shot up 4.4% in December and posted an annual rise of 31.1% — the highest year-on-year rise recorded and readily available on the CSO statistical online database series which starts in January 2003.