Motorists face insurance hikes of up to 30%

Motorists face a hike of up to 30% in their car insurance costs as the AA warned that people on the road are in the midst of “the year from hell”.

The Automobile Association acts as an intermediary in the selling on car insurance and are involved in the insurance policies of 170,000 Irish motorists.

Having reviewed its own data the AA said motorists here have already seen a 20% price hike in the cost of insurance here - and it is now predicted to rise to 30%.

AA director of consumer affairs, Conor Faughnan, said while some of the price rises could be explained by the higher number of motorists, quite why the fees are rising so significantly is still a mystery.

He called on insurers to be more open with their data and on the reasons why they have been increasing the cost of premiums.

“It’s the year from hell for insurance prices, and it’s getting worse,” Mr Faughnan said. “We understand some of the reasons but others are less clear.” “We know that there is more traffic on the road which adds to risk but not enough to explain price rises this large,” he said. “We also know that the insurance industry collectively has been charging too little for insurance over a number of years. That was not sustainable and some element of correction is needed.

“It’s not clear how much the cost of each individual claim is going up by and this is where insurers need to be more open with their data.

He said more people also seemed to be bringing more personal injury cases through the circuit courts due to an increase in the maximum personal injury award to €60,000. The AA wants insurance companies to outline the details related to the cost of the claims they are settling.

“We are being told that the industry is worried about an increase in the typical injury award,” Mr Faughnan said. “However, it would help everyone to understand that if insurers produced data to prove it. We know of recent individual cases where awards appeared extremely high, but we need more than anecdotes and examples.”

The AA also said fraudulent claims were adding between €50 and €60 to each individual policy.