Call for insurance market reform

The value of personal injury settlements has fallen dramatically since the introduction of the euro, but the savings have not been passed on by insurance companies, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

The Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business was told that settlements are now averaging the same figures in euro as they used to in punts, representing a loss in real value of more than 20 per cent. The claim was made by the chairman of the Bar Council, Mr Conor Maguire SC, who called on the insurance industry to "examine its conscience" about the reasons behind high premiums.

Mr Maguire said there had been no reduction in premiums as a result of lower settlements - largely self-imposed by lawyers - nor as a result of the "consistent decline" in the numbers of cases taken, nor following the introduction of penalty points.

The insurance industry had been "getting away with murder", while repeatedly distorting figures about legal costs, he added.

His comments came during submissions from the Bar Council and the Law Society on reform of the insurance market, and in the light of draft legislation establishing the Personal Injury Assessment Board (PIAB) to adjudicate on compensation.

Mr Maguire said that while barristers were "unequivocally in favour" of reform, the PIAB would be a very expensive failure.

Because it would be a voluntary alternative to the courts for plaintiffs, it would be successful only if its awards were higher, he suggested. It would "generate competing jurisdictions to the detriment of reform", he added. And it was an "utter nonsense" for the Government to proceed with the scheme, as it was doing, without proper cost-benefit analysis.

Representatives of the Law Society told the committee they were taking "a very tough line" with solicitors who continued to advertise no-win, no-fee services, in breach of new regulations imposed earlier this year. This was disputed by Mr Conor Lenihan TD (FF), who challenged the society to say how many solicitors had been disciplined, and by Senator Terry Leyden (FF), who said that advertisements encouraging litigants were still being broadcast on local radio.

The director of the Law Society, Mr Ken Murphy, said the activities of "ambulance chasing" solicitors were regretted by 98 per cent of the profession, and the society was fully behind the ban on such advertising. But he disagreed with Senator Leyden's proposal that all advertising by solicitors be banned.

Both the Law Society and the Bar Council denied the practice of so-called "forum-shopping", whereby lawyers sought tactical adjournments with the hope of getting more sympathetic judges to hear their cases.

Law Society president, Ms Geraldine Clarke, said it was not possible for solicitors to choose judges. Mr Maguire conceded that some judges were known to be "mean" and others "generous", but he said that this was only a factor in ensuring that most cases did not reach court. Depending on whether a judge was mean or generous, there was added pressure on the plaintiff or defence to settle, he added: "But it's not possible to influence the  list."