A requirement for motor insurers to list a customer's previous five years’ premiums on their renewal notice, which was introduced in an effort to push premiums lower, may be having an unwanted effect.
Motor insurance premiums have been falling in recent times according to official data from the Central Statistics Office.The Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 requires insurer to list the last five premiums paid by the consumer in order to provide transparency and combat the practice of dual-pricing.
But Jonathan Hehir, managing director of Insuremycars.ie, says in an environment in which prices are falling, this requirement is having the unintended consequence of making consumers think they are winning, causing them to not shop around for better quotes. "Just because your existing insurer is quoting you a better premium than last year’s, this does not mean it’s the best deal on the market and that shopping around is still as relevant as ever when it comes to securing the best value product on the market," he said.