Clarke calls on Government to end insurance sector "rip off"

Sinn Féin TD for Longford-Westmeath, Sorca Clarke TD, has called on the Government to end the "rip-off" in the insurance sector.

Deputy Clarke said insurance companies are squeezing policy holders to increase their eye-watering profits while the Government stands back and lets it happen.

Sinn Féin will bring a Dáil motion this week calling on the Government to stand up to insurance companies to ensure fair and stable insurance prices.

“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.

“The time for excuses is over, it's time to end the insurance rip off," Teachta Clarke said,