No wonder car insurance is through the roof

JoeThornton933

Came here solely just to vent my anger and some might disagree and say I only have myself to blame, but about 18 months ago I had a very minor car accident where I literally just tapped into the back of a guys bumper (not sure if it makes a difference in the payout but his car was a brand new jeep at the time) he broke and admittedly I probably wasn’t paying full attention as I had two kids and my partner in the car, however I couldn’t at have hit into him any more lightly if I actually tried. We exchanged details there and I thought nothing more might come of it except for him claiming for his slightly damaged tow hitch. But anyway months passed and i finally heard back that he got a payout of 2k for the damage which was fine by me even though I ended up losing my 8 years no claims bonus, but then they told me he was also claiming for personal damage (whiplash) which he definitely didn’t have as like I said it was such a minor accident the kids in the back didn’t even realise it happened and he got straight out of the car to check his bumper and get my details. Anyway it was over a year since I heard anything about that so I thought nothing came of it until it came time to renew my insurance last week and i asked them what happened with that claim and they told me that they payed out 30k on personal damage as well as 2k on the car damage, which in my opinion is ridiculous.

Like i understand that is what insurance is for but there surely should be more rigorous tests for injuries because I know for a fact nothing was wrong with this guy and this is why Car insurance is so expensive ... thoughts?

Melanchthon

Thought, FG have been in power for years now, they have done very little to resolve this issue despite talking about it occasionally. I presume it's to do with not wanting to hit the gravy train for their legal industry mates.

ltd440

I think I heard on the radio only this week that the book of quantum has been changed.
Every injury is now going to get a much smaller pay out

gary550

sticky topic

The industry of massive claims for small injuries isn't going to go away unless the problem of absolutely parasitic bottom feeding solicitors are dealt with.

I couldn't begin to tell you the amount of people I know who have been on the receiving end of this, more recently a girl i know tipped the back of a car at a roundabout which resulted in no damage payout (because there was absolutely no damage whatsoever) yet the passenger of the car got €18k payout for personal injury.

Another thing I don't quite understand is how people get away with making multiple personal injury claims over a 10 or 15 year time period, there is people on the road their whole lives without incident yet some people seem to find themselves in very lucrative minor accidents every 3 or 4 years.

JoeThornton933

ltd440 wrote: »

I think I heard on the radio only this week that the book of quantum has been changed.
Every injury is now going to get a much smaller pay out

My luck I’ll probably go out and get rear ended by a bus and get a €200 payout ahah

lalababa

The insurance industry in Ireland is corrupt from top to bottom and back.
As is the legal system and crash repair industry.
But very few want to rock the boat.
On the 2k repairs... probably 20 euros of paint and a half days work for the repair company.
On the 18k whiplash....2.5 to the solicitor for 2hrs work and the rest to yer man.
Total of 20k...the op will be paying back around 12k over many years through higher premiums and everyone else pays the 8k through their premiums.
So basically 20k of 'free ' money sloshing around for a tip that in other countries would be laughed at and repaired for 100 euro.

Eggs For Dinner

lalababa wrote: »

The insurance industry in Ireland is corrupt from top to bottom and back.
As is the legal system and crash repair industry.
But very few want to rock the boat.
On the 2k repairs... probably 20 euros of paint and a half days work for the repair company.
On the 18k whiplash....2.5 to the solicitor for 2hrs work and the rest to yer man.
Total of 20k...the op will be paying back around 12k over many years through higher premiums and everyone else pays the 8k through their premiums.
So basically 20k of 'free ' money sloshing around for a tip that in other countries would be laughed at and repaired for 100 euro.

So how does this (typical) example make the insurance industry corrupt?. Liability is not in question, so it is down to the insurer to get out for the lowest payout possible. Insurers spent over a year trying to settle for a reasonable figure and/or trying to demonstrate that the injury wasn't genuine. With the solicitor on the meter, backed by an expensive consultants report, economic decisions have to be made

OP was liable for the accident, so you were never going to win a court case, unless you could PROVE fraud and the total cost would far exceed this. I've said it many times, the rewards for minor injuries are too tempting for many not to give it a go and there's a whole network of professionals waiting to assist them and put their noses in the trough. Insurers only pick up the bill for this practice, which is then passed on to the rest of us

lalababa

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

So how does this (typical) example make the insurance industry corrupt?. Liability is not in question, so it is down to the insurer to get out for the lowest payout possible. Insurers spent over a year trying to settle for a reasonable figure and/or trying to demonstrate that the injury wasn't genuine. With the solicitor on the meter, backed by an expensive consultants report, economic decisions have to be made

OP was liable for the accident, so you were never going to win a court case, unless you could PROVE fraud and the total cost would far exceed this. I've said it many times, the rewards for minor injuries are too tempting for many not to give it a go and there's a whole network of professionals waiting to assist them and put their noses in the trough. Insurers only pick up the bill for this practice, which is then passed on to the rest of us

The insurance companies are not exactly rocking the boat...are they?

Eggs For Dinner

lalababa wrote: »

The insurance companies are not exactly rocking the boat...are they?

What do you mean and how should this boat be rocked?

alias no.9

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

What do you mean and how should this boat be rocked?

Higher claims mean higher premiums which means larger turnover and even if there's a little squeeze on the profit margin, the overall profits are higher. Just no real incentive to try and reign it in.

theoneeyedman

alias no.9 wrote: »

Higher claims mean higher premiums which means larger turnover and even if there's a little squeeze on the profit margin, the overall profits are higher. Just no real incentive to try and reign it in.

It necessarily.

Over the last year, there have been fewer claims, die to less traffic, but have you seen the premiums fall?? Have you hell??

As said, too many with their moses in the trough, from solicitors, doctors, motor repairs, breakdown trucks and scrap merchants..... Lots of vested interests and the shmuck paying the insurance premium is on the hook for it all!

theoneeyedman

alias no.9 wrote: »

Higher claims mean higher premiums which means larger turnover and even if there's a little squeeze on the profit margin, the overall profits are higher. Just no real incentive to try and reign it in.

It necessarily.

Over the last year, there have been fewer claims, die to less traffic, but have you seen the premiums fall?? Have you hell??

As said, too many with their moses in the trough, from solicitors, doctors, motor repairs, breakdown trucks and scrap merchants..... Lots of vested interests and the shmuck paying the insurance premium is on the hook for it all!

Eggs For Dinner

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Over the last year, there have been fewer claims, die to less traffic, but have you seen the premiums fall?? Have you hell??

Premiums have being falling. You only have to see the renewal discussion thread. Where insurers increase a premium, the poster is usually able to secure an alternative quote cheaper than what they paid the previous year.

There's still a long way to go and the revised book of quantum will help when those claims get settled under the new rules