What's the news?
With insurance costs still a very thorny issue for many Irish drivers, the insurance industry is saying that extra effort needs to be made to combat fraud.
According to the CEO of Liberty Insurance, Sharon O'Brien: "Liberty is one hundred percent committed to reform of Ireland's motor insurance industry. We recognise the significant pain that customers have felt over the last number of years. We have played a key role in the work of the Cost of Insurance Working Group and will continue to do so.
"Important progress has been made. However, we believe that a concentrated focus in the areas of fraud and data sharing in particular is needed to drive further successful reform and ultimately drive down costs for motorists. We have to prioritise those initiatives that will have the greatest impact; fraud is a key driver of increased insurance costs and it needs to be tackled head-on, in the interests of our customers. We believe that our proposals send out a strong message: anyone who commits fraud will not gain by it and will instead face stiff penalties when they are caught out. We also want to see data shared between insurers and the Gardaí more effectively, to ensure greater cooperation between both in detecting and stamping out fraud."
Liberty is saying that several new measures need to be taken, including a 'zero-tolerance' approach to insurance fraud, the creations of a National Fraud Database, overseen by the Central Bank, a dedicated Garda unit to investigate insurance fraud, training for judges to try and ensure greater consistency of awards and payments, and a strengthening of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
"The creation of a policy and claims database, overseen by the Central Bank to ensure rigour and independence, is another important step on our journey of industry reform. It aligns with the ambition of the Cost of Insurance Working Group to improve data availability and provide enhanced transparency in the claims environment, leading to greater stability in the pricing of motor insurance" said Ms O'Brien. "We urge Minister D'Arcy, Minister Breen and other key Government stakeholders to give careful consideration to our proposals to ensure that the progress made to date in reforming our industry does not run out of steam."