'Government must end the rip-off in insurance sector and get prices under control'

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty has said the time for excuses is over and the government must act to end the rip-off in the insurance sector.

The Donegal TD said insurance companies are squeezing policyholders to increase their eye-watering profits while the government stands back and lets it happen.

Deputy Doherty was speaking as he published Sinn Féin’s motion, which will be debated in the Dáil, that calls on government to stand up to insurance companies to ensure fair and stable insurance prices.

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Teachta Doherty said: “Government needs to end the rip-off in the insurance sector and get prices under control. It is long past time for excuses. Car insurance, home insurance, health insurance are all up. Putting real pressure on households dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. With food prices soaring, energy bills and rents going up, people can’t deal with another bill going up when they go to renew their insurance.

“We have seen substantial increases in motor insurance in recent years. It is now at its highest level in five years. Now almost double the EU average. People are now facing health insurance costs of almost €2,000 every year, which is even higher for people over 65. This affects almost 2.5 million people in this state, many of whom were already struggling to afford to keep their coverage.

“Runaway house prices caused by government failures are leading to higher and higher cost of home insurance. Leaving many people paying far more or being left underinsured.

“Public and employer liability is also through the roof despite the cost of claims going down. This drives up the cost of doing business or running any type of community organisation which feeds through and drives up costs across the board.

“The reason this is happening is because the government has sat back and allowed insurance companies to make eye-watering profits totally out of step with industry norms. We have seen certain sectors of the insurance market making profit margins as high as 17% when you would expect to see it in the low single digits.

“Reforms that have been brought in to bring down the claims-related costs, many Sinn Féin have campaigned hard for, have been pocketed by the insurance companies as profit rather than passed on to customers in lower premiums.

“At best, the government has failed to act in the face of this rip-off; at worst, they have actively protected the profits of these companies by blocking my legislation that would force the insurance industry to report to the Central Bank detailing how it has or hasn’t passed on these savings to customers – euro for euro.

“That is why I am bringing forward tomorrow’s Dáil motion that calls on government to stand up to insurance companies to ensure fair and stable insurance prices. Time for excuses is over; time to end the insurance rip off.”