Party calls for radical transparency to benefit consumers and new competitors
Insurance companies should be forced to “show their sums” and reveal what calculations are behind insurance premiums, the Green Party has said today (Monday).
The Greens are seeking a new requirement that insurers display the major factors used in calculating a quote, such as the weighting they attach to location, a person’s age, claims history, business sector etc.
Insurers should also be required to publish the “loss ratio” for each type of insurance package they offer, showing which ones incur the most claims.
The party says that this will give consumers more information, stamp out price gouging, and help improve competition, reducing premiums for business and consumers alike.
The party made the call as part of its submission to the next Action Plan for Insurance Reform. The first plan focused on reducing legal costs and awards paid to injured parties. The Green Party is calling for the next reforms to radically boost transparency for consumers and would-be competitors.
Green Party finance spokesperson, Cllr. Michael Pidgeon said:
“Ireland’s high insurance premiums are a rip off. They keep struggling businesses on the brink of bankruptcy and pile pressure on hard-pressed households.
“It’s time for the insurance companies to show us their sums and reveal how they have calculated such high premiums. This will give consumers and businesses more clarity on what is behind their quote, and might help shame insurers into price reductions.
“We’re also suggesting new measures to bring more insurers to Ireland. An anonymous database of all insurance claims would give would-be competitors certainty, offering a chance to look under the hood of the Irish market. This would help increase competition and cut bills.
“The government gave the insurance industry a lot of the reforms it wanted in the last action plan. Now it’s time to demand fairer prices and transparency.”
The Greens are also calling for:
- A new requirement to report when customers are declined cover, to be included in the National Claims Information Database (NCID). This is particularly important in business sectors where there are few insurance options and for people with specific needs or disabilities.
- An anonymised database of all insurance claims, to give potential new insurance firms better information on the Irish market and increase the number of competing insurers.
- A new duty on insurers to ensure free access for people with disabilities to the most competitive insurance quotes, which may only be available otherwise on price comparison sites and not by phone.
Green Party response to government consultation:
Green Party submission to the public consultation on new Action Plan for Insurance Reform – May 2025
Q1. Areas for further development:
The first action plan on insurance reform focused on reducing the risk and cost of claims and litigation. That work is valuable and should continue, but has not resulted in the reduced premiums hoped for.
One approach the action plan could take is to make more radical proposals conditionally tapered in on the basis of premium costs. Measures to tackle high premiums that are opposed by the industry could be prepared but held back so long as a minimum reduction in premiums across the sector takes place.
Q2. Priorities for the 2025-2029 Action Plan
Continuing with the work from the previous plan, the three core priorities should be:
- Increase transparency to consumers on pricing
- Increase transparency for new entrants and reduce barriers
- Engage at EU level to mitigate the climate insurance gap – particularly around flooding.
Q3. Transparency & Affordability
Insurers have sought and gained major changes to reduce litigation costs and awards to injured parties. If premiums have not fallen as a result, increased transparency to the consumer is a necessity. This should also assist in driving price decreases and competition.
This should include:
- A new requirement for insurers to “show their workings”, giving a clear breakdown of what main aspects are determining the cost of a premium and by how much. This would include, for example, weightings applied to locations, sectors, business type, demographics, claims history etc.
- A new requirement for insurers to publish loss ratios and acceptance rates for each policy type
- A new requirement to report when policies are declined, to be included in the NCID reports. This is particularly important in sectors where there are few insurance options and for people with specific needs or disabilities.
- Extra information in the NCID on demographic and geographic impacts, as is done in the UK.
Separately, there should be a new positive duty on insurers to ensure free access for people with disabilities to access competitive insurance quotes, which may only be available otherwise on price comparison sites and not by phone.
Q4. Competitiveness & Availability
The relatively small number of insurers in Ireland is undoubtedly a driver of high premiums, as competition is relatively low and the risk of price coordination (even unspoken) is high.
One of the key barriers to new firms entering the market is information: established insurers have years of granular data from which they can calculate prices. Aimed at new entrants, the state should develop and require input into a dataset of anonymised claims information available to all market participants or would-be entrants, akin to All-Payer Claims Databases in the USA.
Separately, consideration should be given to easing regulatory requirements for the first years of operation for a new entrant to the market, eventually tapering such requirements in. This could mean, for example, working with the Central Bank to have capital requirements that start low and grow to the general requirement gradually over a number of years. This would incentivise new firms entering the market and drive improved competition.
Paired with this tapered approach, any entry requirements and regulations should be regularly reviewed to reduce redundancy and improve competition. A set of such changes was announced by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority this month.
Q7. Climate Protection Gap
Climate change is already having a substantial insurance cost impact in Ireland and across Europe – particularly in relation to flooding. An October 2024 Central Bank report found a substantial gap in flood protection insurance, with roughly 1 in 20 buildings having difficulty accessing flood insurance. The estimated costs of inland flooding are about €100m a year, with half-billion euro events expected every 25 years – but this is worsening as the climate changes. The Central Bank estimates these inland flood costs alone rising by over 40% in high-end climate scenarios by 2050.
While outside of the scope of this action plan, it is a clear signal for the government to redouble efforts to prevent runaway climate change, and to take steps to mitigate against increasing flood risks.
Such catastrophic flooding and other climate risks could overwhelm the domestic insurance system, and the action plan should prioritise work at an EU and wider international level to spread and reduce this risk.
