Letter to Minister Sean Fleming: Insurance reform to enable a more circular economy

Mr. Sean Fleming TD

Minister of State at the Department of Finance

with responsibility for Financial Services,

 Credit Unions and Insurance

Silveracre 

Castletown 

Portlaoise

Co Laois

Mary Fleming

National Executive

Community Resources Network Ireland

Basement

10 North Great George’s St.

Dublin

D01 V3K5

06-05-2022

Subject: Insurance reform to enable a more circular economy

Dear Minister,

My name is Mary Fleming, and I’m contacting you from the Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI). We are Ireland’s representative body for community based organisations working in reuse, repair and recycling.

I am reaching out to you on the back of the recent publication of Ireland’s Circular Economy Bill 2021. The Bill sets out plans to move away from the  ‘make-take-dispose’ model Ireland currently operates under, however, many barriers still exist for community based organisations who work  day-to-day to make a more circular economy a reality.

An issue that comes up time and time again for reuse, repair and recycling organisatons is insurance premiums. A large number of CRNI members are seeing continual increases on an annual basis.

These increases drove us to register CRNI as a member of the Alliance for Insurance Reform. The Alliance brings together 47 civic and business organisations from across Ireland, representing over 55,000 members, 700,000 employees, 622,000 volunteers and 374,000 students in highlighting the negative impact of persistently high premiums and calling for real reforms that will quickly reduce liability and motor insurance premiums to affordable levels and keep them that way.

Recent research by the Alliance for Insurance Reform shows that:

• 42% of organisations belonging to the network say that insurance premiums are threatening their future 
• 90% say Government is not doing enough to address the issue of insurance costs

In addition, an ongoing survey of insurance premium renewals confirms that liability premiums continue to increase by 16%.

While recent reforms such as the judicial guidelines are welcome and are having an impact on private motor premiums, they are clearly not having an impact on the liability premiums paid by businesses, voluntary and community groups, sports and cultural organisations and charities. Insurers are simply not passing on the benefits of recent reforms to liability insurance policyholders. And other reforms that would impact on liability premiums are not happening fast enough.

To restore policyholder faith in the process, I urge you to ensure that Government:

• does everything in its power to ensure incumbent insurers pass on the benefits of reforms
• moves quicker on getting additional competition into the market
• delivers very quickly on promised legislation rebalancing the duty of care
• enacts the draft legislation reforming PIAB this year

Ultimately your government can and must get liability insurance premiums down to affordable levels with reforms that keep them that way.

If you want Ireland to recover from all the current challenges through our SMEs and voluntary and community organisations, we urge you to get insurance reform sorted now. Please see signatures from a number of CRNI members attached in support of this letter.

Sincerely,

Mary Fleming

Network Executive

Community Resources Network Ireland

• May 23, 2022