80,000 road accident claims paid in 2004
In a report on motor insurance, the regulator said there were 80,100 claims made in 2004.
It said that while the majority of these were for road accidents that happened that year, some payments might have been outstanding for the previous four years.
The report, Private Motor Insurance Statistics for 2004, showed an increase of 7% in the number of road traffic accidents that year. It said it was the first time the rate of accidents grew since 1997.
The figures showed that 1.5 million people had motor insurance policies that year, compared to 800,000 in 1997.
There was also a significant drop in the premium rates, with the price of comprehensive cover falling by 18% and the cost of third-party fire and theft cover falling by 16%.
The report said: “This followed a period of rapidly rising premiums, which grew by 45% for comprehensive cover and 70% for third-party fire and theft cover between 1997 and 2003.”
Just over €200 million was paid out in comprehensive insurance claims, while €89m was paid out in third-party fire and theft claims.
The cost of the average comprehensive cover claim grew by 6% from 2003, the first hike since 1997, while third-party fire and theft claims grew by 10%.
There was also a jump in the number of people taking out comprehensive cover, up to 70% in 2004 compared to 55% in 1997.
Third-party fire and theft policies accounted for 28% of the market compared with 38% in 1997.
The report also showed that it took up to four years to settle some claims at the time, with a high proportion of claims that were made in 2000 finally paid out in 2004.
It’s expected that 2005 figures will show a speedier system of settling claims, because of the introduction of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), which commits to assessing claims within nine months.
The Financial Regulator’s Consumer Director, Mary O’Dea, said “The significant difference for consumers is they can now go directly to the PIAB where the processes have been designed to help people make their claims in a simple and straightforward way.”
