The average cost of motor insurance has significantly increased over the past few years with it hiting every Irish driver hard in the process, but is there enough being done to help address the situation that is spiraling out of control.
Although insurance companies have offered rather tame explanations as to why the average Irish motorist premium is rising, with young drivers and people who drive older cars being cited as the main reasons due to the fact they apparently cause more accidents resulting in a surge in claims being payed out.
Even though it is agreeable that the number of claims on policies has risen over the past ten years with more and more people taking to the road each day, many feel agrieved that they are paying the price for other people’s mistakes that have been greatly exaggerated by insurance companies who are looking to capatalise on a vunerable market space.
With the average premium rising by €300 or more, Irish motorists are being squeezed for every penny by a market full of companies who are clearly in league with one another with none of the major players willing to undermine the other to benefit the working man or woman.
We have all seen our premiums rise over the past number of years but I am sure many of you out there will agree that students are literally paying the price far more than others. Over the past number of weeks student union groups have called on Insurance companies to review the situation regarding the spiraling costs but it seems their plea has fallen on deaf ears.
Given that we as a nation are still trying pull ourselves out of a economic downturn young people have paid the price more than most before they have even gotten behind the wheel with them being unfairly judged by a stereotype that has been greatly exaggerated to justify what is deemed as acceptable costs.
Sure we can all say young drivers are to blame for the sudden rise in premiums, but it’s not just young people have experienced soaring costs with the average man and woman being unfairly hit with hikes that cost hundreds if not thousands of Euro even though they have 5 or more years no claims bonus.
Given the current state of affairs the average Irish motorist is now facing a future were it will cost over a thousand Euro to get from A to B whilst traveling behind the wheel a scenario which is highly unacceptable and completely unfair.
A prospect that leads to the question what can be done to address the situation sooner rather than later, even though a number of alternative measures have been submitted by the public online each day, they have not been met with a positive response by the people who have the power to implement such a change that would stop crippling the average motorist.
In an ideal world what would be a practical solution to lower costs on both ends of the spectrum, should all young drivers have restrictors placed on their vehicle that would stop them from going over a certain speed which would result in fewer fatalities.
Should the Government intervene and introduce a state run scheme that will see those who don’t make a claim not matter how many years they have been driving being rewarded with cheaper premiums or should the companies behind the spiraling costs, introduce a system that would actually evaluate an individuals driving history, experience and vehicle details to the full extent that would in turn truthfully evaluate their premium.
Tell us what you think.