Cantillon: Setanta drives motor insurance debate

The poor driver cannot get a break, it seems. Motor insurance premiums are already the subject of many impositions, ranging from levies to the high cost of claims in the Irish market. The latter has been estimated to already add 20 to 25 per cent to average premiums this year.

Now another burden comes from the cost of winding up Setanta, which left a €90 million hole. This was always going to fall back on the motorist to some extent. However, the insurance industry argued that the cost should be met from the Insurance Compensation Fund. Doing so would, at worst, have been likely to have spread the cost via a small levy over a long period. Existing money in the fund would have meant the extra cost to customers would not have been significant.

However, the courts have ruled that the money must come from the MIBI, the body meant to fill the gap in the event of uninsured drivers being involved in claims. The industry, led by the Irish Insurance Federation, had argued that this body was not intended to meet the cost of a collapsed insurer.

To ensure enough money is in the MIBI fund, insurers – already under pressure in many cases – are going to have to come up with more cash to bulk it out. This is going to mean higher premiums until the €90 million has been recouped. Industry sources estimate the an average premium of €650 to €700 per annum could now face what is effectively a once off levy of €50 to meet this cost.

This is painful enough at a time when premiums are rising anyway. However there are also now wider concerns. What happens, for example, if a bigger player gets into trouble and there is a much more significant call on the MIBI? Then the whole structure of the insurance system could conceivably come under threat.

There has been similar debate in the health insurance market, about how to create a stable structure. The latest judgment certainly poses questions about the stability of the motor insurance system, a sector already troubled. It is another headache which the next government is going to have to sort out – whenever it is finally formed.