PRESS RELEASE: Blue Book 2004 - 15/Sept/2005 "Motor Insurance Companies Walk Off with €2.5 billion Thanks to State Funded Initiatives" "Motor Insurance Companies have taken over €1.0 billion in profits and have artificially inflated their reserves by a further €1.5 billion since the penalty points system and the PIAB were introduced" said Cllr. Mick Murphy, the National Organiser of MIJAG, the Motor Insurance Justice Action Group. "Considering that the Government ordered the Deloitte & Touche Report (1996) when profits exceed €30m back in the mid 90s, this complete bonanza of €832m each year is indeed a scandal and needs to be investigated far more urgently and more seriously by the Dáil Committee responsible" Cllr Murphy argued. "The insurance companies and political establishment think that the public are being mollified by the small premium decreases, but as the Eddy Hobbs programs showed, people know they are being ripped off and are aware they are only getting the crumbs off the table" Cllr. Murphy added. "If the billions of euro involved were ploughed into driver training and road safety initiatives the road safety situation could be transformed" Cllr. Murphy said.   See below a table compiled by MIJAG, which graphically illustrates the huge increase in both profits and reserves. The traditional claims paid to reserves ratio of 2.5 times has now almost doubled to 4.3 times leaving an excess of €1,434m. MIJAG believe that money should not be left in the hands of the motor insurance companies but taken into the public purse and used for road safety programs. All figures taken from Table 15 of the various Blue Books* (all figures are € million) 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Premium Income 764 951 1,471 1,452 1,678 1,517 Claims Paid 659 717 971 966 815 809 Profit including Investment Income 34 -108 5 201 374 487 Provision made for future claims (Reported + Not Reported) 1,579 1,799 2,611 2,870 3,239 3,457 Claims Provision as a multiple of claims paid 2.4 2.5 2.7 3.0 4.0 4.3 *Note: The Blue Book is now known as the Insurance Statistical Review.   Back to Press Release Index