Car insurance premiums 'set for 15% hike' next year

Irish motorists are being warned that car insurance is set to go up by 10% - 15% before the middle of next year.

Credit ratings agency Standard and Poors says drivers here are currently paying an average of €900 per year, and the looming rises would hike those figures.

The rises are reportedly being caused by high legal costs and the length of time it takes to settle claims.

However, senior vice president of the Law Society Stuart Gilhooly said lawyers were being unfairly blamed.

He said: "Claims costs have not gone up in the last three or four years, and in fact not in about 12 years since the Injuries Board came in so there's just no basis (for blaming lawyers)."