Email Motorists are being charged hundreds of euro extra for the exact same cover under the ‘dual-pricing’ system being perpetuated by insurers, according to a dossier to be handed to the Central Bank. The shocking exposé seen by this newspaper reveals differences of up to €740 when it comes to renewing a policy.
Dual pricing uses big data to pick out clients who are unlikely to challenge renewal quotes, with these often being vulnerable customers.Pressure is mounting to implement a ban on the controversial practice in the Irish insurance market, after the UK regulator signalled an end to it there.
The move follows exposure in this publication of the malign impact of dual pricing, which prompted Opposition TDs such as Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty and Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath to take up the issue in the Oireachtas Finance Committee.
Log In
New to Independent.ie? Create an account
The dossier compiled by Mr Doherty is being handed to the Central Bank as it investigates how dual pricing affects consumers in the Irish market.
The details uncovered expose shocking claims of price discrimination among leading insurers. Consumers reacted after getting motor insurance renewal notices that they regarded as artificially high. They suspected so-called dual pricing.
So they went online after getting renewal quotes by letter. They found they could massively undercut what they were told to pay in the renewal letters when they entered the same details online. Differences of up to €740 were found.
All the cases were provided to Mr Doherty, who has compiled a 100-plus page report.
He has previously accused insurers in the Dáíl of «ripping off» customers through dual pricing, exaggerated costs and misleading information.
In one case a driver insured with Liberty Insurance reported getting a renewal quote of €1,420. After entering the details online he was offered cover for just €680. This is despite the driver being with Liberty for four years.
Liberty Insurance did not comment when contacted by the Irish Independent.
A woman in Waterford was sent a renewal premium of €871 by AA Insurance. When she entered the details online she was offered a business premium of €400, a difference of €471. AA Insurance spokesman Conor Faughnan said his firm was investigating why the customer was given such a high renewal quote. He said it looked like an error, and AA Insurance was not in the business of denying itself business by giving out uncompetitive quotes.
Dual pricing is in addition to a recent damning report from the Central Bank showing insurers increased motor premiums by 42pc in the 10 years up to 2018, despite claims costs falling. And dual pricing is thought to be one of the main methods used by insurers to generate higher premiums paid by motorists.
Yesterday, Mr Doherty was preparing to send a first draft of a private members’ bill banning dual pricing to the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser in Leinster House.
Experts said the exposure given to dual pricing has meant insurers have suffered a backlash as consumers are realising their loyalty is being punished. This has now made consumers wary of renewal quotes from insurance companies for motor and home cover, according to Peter Boland, of the Alliance for Insurance Reform.
«It has become apparent insurance companies are punishing loyalty by artificially setting premiums for customers who are deemed to be less ‘price sensitive’ or more ‘inert’ than others,» Mr Doherty said.
Insurance Ireland, the lobby group for the industry, insists pricing of premiums was the «sole responsibility of individual insurers».
See also the ‘Switching Saturday’ supplement in today’s Irish Independent
Свежие комментарии