CONDUCTORS’ STAND

No matter how hard one tries - It’s difficult to ‘Love your Insurer’

If asked to identify your Insurer as close as possible to a close relation, who would you select? The aunt or distant cousin that always arrives with an appropriate present, well turned out, parks their car discreetly and always ready to pitch in when help is needed. Possibly, it could be the nosey one with the perfect family that knows the answer to all your problems, but never able to give practical help. Or would it be the dreaded single uncle that arrives in a reasonable state, gets drunk quietly, reminisces about his great football ability and thinks nobody ever drank or played like him, while still thinking his chat up lines are original and relevant. I will let you decide, but that uncle has a good head start in my mind.

Recently the Government published an interim report on the Insurance industry. I know the State Agencies involved and the Insurance Alliance Reform Group are putting their heart and soul into resolving the issues faced by all of us as policyholders. This problem has been around for years and in spite of everybody’s best efforts to reform the Insurance sector, nothing seems to happen. From a policyholder’s point of view the matter is simple, premiums are too expensive, with no transparency in their calculation.

Insurance is pretty simple by its nature. An individual or business pays a fee so that if any unfortunate or unforeseen event arises, there is financial cover to protect the company from having to close its doors. Of course, we all know that the concept of simplicity disappeared a long time ago. Insurers have allowed their operations become complicated and infiltrated by other services and agencies, legal and medical, as an example. So, are the insurance companies part of this almost conspiracy mess, or are they benefactors of a cosy charging system that gives their companies some security and vast profits? There are many opinions on this subject, but I know where most people’s suspicions lie.

Around the time the Government issued its report in early July, something struck me. Many representatives from the Insurance sector were interviewed and asked about their opinions and hopes for the way the whole process was going. Not one of the spokespeople made any mention of a reduction in the cost of premiums until they were cornered on that point by interviewers. Given that the whole point of this exercise is to reduce premiums, I would have thought we would have heard opening remarks like “Well, we really hope that we will be able to reflect these reforms into a reduction in premium renewals” or “at last, we see scope for bringing reductions to the market place”. No, not a bit of it. They still don’t see policyholders as customers and to understand the need to give value for money. More’s the pity.

I think the Government is far too lenient with insurers and any other group or sector that prove to be an impediment to reducing premiums. At some stage that policy, inadvertent as it may be, will have to stop. Some weeks ago I received my insurance renewal bill, which showed an 18% increase. After some to-ing and fro-ing, it was reduced to a 9% increase, with no change in the policy from the previous year. Unfortunately, due to a ‘technical’ non-disclose a few years ago, no other insurer would quote me. This seems to be a legal privilege insurers have in relation to sharing information and facilitating a transfer of data, long after the event. In most other sectors this would most likely be regarded as, at the very least, suspicious trading.

After I had finished the wrangling with my insurance policy renewal provider, I was listening to a discussion on the radio about some of the more unlikely businesses that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Apparently “three card trick” men are struggling a bit … Hmmm!

Text: Sean Murtagh – sean@fleet.ie

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