All Motorists are Due One Year Free Insurance Due to Insurance Hike Scam The Table below compiled by Mick Murphy the National Organiser of MIJAG (Motor Insurance Justice Action Group) from the Insurance Blue Books show that during the years 2001 & 2002 the reserves of the motor insurance companies almost doubled growing by over €1 billion. They took over €200 million in profit at the end of those two years. Total figures for 2003 are not yet available but the big five motor insurance companies did announce record profits of over €500 million. (all figures are € million) 1997 2000 2001 2002 Premium Income 764 951 1,471 1,452 Claims Paid 659 717 971 966 Profit including Investment Income 34 -108 5 201 Provision made for future claims (Reported + Not Reported) 1,579 1,799 2,611 2,870 Claims Provision as a multiple of claims paid 2.4 2.5 2.7 3.0       Mick Murphy the National Organiser of MIJAG said "During 2001 and 2002 there were massive premium hikes for everyone. There was a slight drop in 2003 but people still paid way more than in the late 90s. It is clear from the 2001/2002 figures published in the Blue Books that these Hikes were not justified. They went to boost insurance company profits and reserves. These reserves can be written down as profits over years to come. It was clear from 2002 onwards that the rate of claims were likely to drop due to the penalty points system and the setting up of the Personal Injury Assessment Board. The increases we had to pay in those years were never justified and should be returned to all of us". "The MIAB Report published just before the 2002 General Election commenting (P5, E7) on 1990s figures concluded that insurance companies here made a sufficient return on investment of 4.2% and they were considerably more profitable than UK companies. Since then their profits have gone up more than 10 fold. The rip-off has only got worse" Mr. Murphy said. "Recommendation Number 4 in the MIAB Report says the Irish Financial Service Regulator Authority (IFSRA) should be given powers to control the industry in light of the fact that motor insurance is compulsory. Clearly that is not happening" Mr. Murphy said. "If you add up the profits taken in 2002/2003 which were way above the 2000 figure plus the extra money put into the reserve funds it adds up to more than one years premium. In other words we should all be given a free year and premiums should be dropped back to the 1997 level which would be an average of €620 each including all young drivers" Mr. Murphy said. The Blue Books can be read at http://www.entemp.ie/pubad.htm#B . The table above was sent to the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment (DETE) Insurance section for verification as it is compiled from figures in Table 15 of the Blue Books. They gave advice on how to interpret the Blue Book tables and accept that the table above is an accurate summary of the key statistics in those tables. Back to Press Release Index