HOME insurance costs for householders are expected to rise over the coming year as claims made as a result of the two recent periods of severe winter weather could exceed €500 million.

Insurance companies made €1.22bn profit last year on motor, property and liability premiums, it was revealed today.

LAW-ABIDING drivers will have to fork out extra to pay for compensation awards to victims of some 1,000 hit-and-run incidents being dealt with by insurers.

GARDAÍ are pursuing more than 100 cases of suspected insurance fraud which could see fines totalling €10 million imposed by the courts.

AN urgent review of Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) procedures as it affects industrial accidents, is being sought by the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU).

ALMOST 90 people have been convicted for insurance fraud over the past nine years — some scams involving as much as €2 million.

THREE out of 10 calls to an insurance fraud hotline were about accidents that were either staged or never happened.

CHEAPER home and car insurance is on the way after figures released yesterday showed the Irish insurance industry had a bumper year last year, with combined profits of almost €750 million.

BOGUS claims will cost the insurance industry over E100 million this year despite a concerted campaign to crack down on fraud.

MORE than 1,000 suspected fraudulent insurance claims reported to a telephone service have been investigated in the past eight months.

The Government will be urged to abolish its 2% levy on all insurance premiums as part of recommendations aimed at reforming the industry.

Improved road safety was partly responsible for the insurance industry’s first profit from motor cover since 1998, companies said tonight.

COMPANIES which prove they are taking proper health and safety precautions to protect their employees and customers will benefit from lower insurance premiums, according to the Tánaiste.

MORE than 500 people have called a confidential hotline to inform on friends, neighbours and family members who they suspect of making bogus insurance claims.

TÁNAISTE Mary Harney called on insurance companies yesterday not to settle claims they suspect may be fraudulent because it is damaging future investment in the country.

THE public will be recruited this week to help track down insurance fraudsters who are set to cost policy holders at least €100m this year.

SOLICITORS and barristers are blamed more for high insurance premiums than the insurance firms themselves, according to new research.

PLANS to establish a special traffic corps to curb carnage on the roads early next year has been shelved following Government cutbacks.

MOTORISTS will be hit with rising insurance costs again next year despite the fact the industry took in €38 million more in premiums in 2001 than it paid out.

THE increasing cost of claims facing insurers is the primary cause of rising premiums, according to Irish Insurance Federation chief executive Michael Kemp.

A SINGLE national authority should be charged with developing defences against flooding, the insurance industry said yesterday.

Irish car insurance claims cost the industry twice what they should, according to a report published today.

Industry bosses have blasted uninsured drivers for pushing up the cost of motoring, and according to those in the know, the situation is set to get worse.

The controversy over the high level of vehicle insurance premiums in Ireland continues to rage.