It looks as if the nation’s mechanics and parts dealers are doing well out the cost-of-living crisis .
Or at least they appear to be doing better than many of those who use their services.
According to the Central Bank’s latest National Claims Information Database (NCID) report, motor insurance damages claims have jumped by a staggering 179 per cent when compared to the 2015–2019 average with much of the increase attributed to inflationary pressures across the sector.
Consumers, of course, know all too well what the impact inflationary pressures can have, with the price of pretty much everything from groceries and gas to home loans and holidays climbing significantly over the last five years.
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But even in the context of a cost-of-living crisis apparently without end, inflation of 179 per cent would appear to be – what’s the word we’re looking for here? – savage.
While insurers will pick up the tab for the higher cost of damages claims covering everything from windscreens to paint to side panels and wing mirrors in the short term, ultimately it is consumers who will pay the price.
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We are, in fact, already paying that price.
Motor insurance premiums have been climbing over recent years despite the fact that we have been told that improved clarity when it comes to rogue drivers on our roads, the ones who consider insurance optional, and a more widespread use of the Injuries Resolutions Board, is reducing costs for insurance companies.
[ Cost of motor insurance rises at four times rate of inflation, says CSOOpens in new window ]
It seems inevitable now that the rising cost of damages claims will be held up as the reason why premiums don’t fall in the years ahead
The chief executive of Insurance Ireland Moyagh Murdock does not talk about prices – as an umbrella group representing multiple companies in competition with each other, Insurance Ireland is always very careful not to stray into such the arena.
However she did warn that the Central Bank claims data serves as “a reminder of how fragile [recent improvements to the system] are, and the impact inflation can have on the insurance market.”
It seems inevitable that it is the drivers of Ireland who will feel that impact most acutely.
