The Central Bank of Ireland has published a mid-year report (to end June 2022) providing key statistics on the private motor insurance industry in Ireland.

This is the first such report undertaken and captures data using the National Claims Information Database (NCID).

The key findings are:

The average premium per policy was €578 during this period. This represented a 5% reduction from the average premium in 2021. The average cost is €135 less than in 2017.
Claims settlements – there was in increase in the number and cost of damage to vehicles claims and a decrease in the number and cost of injury claims. However the data is being compared to the first half of 2021 when restrictions were in place.

48% of personal injury claimants settled directly with insurers representing 15% of total costs.

13% of claimants settled through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) making up 6% of total costs.

39% of claimants settled through litigation making up 79% of total costs.

The Central Bank of Ireland noted that there have not been enough litigated claims settled under the new guidelines to assess the impact on the average cost of a claim in the litigation channel.
The Personal Injuries Guidelines were adopted by the Judicial Council on 6th March 2021. However some claimants received compensation awards calculated with reference to the previous structure known as the Book of Quantum. It will take a few years of data to get accurate trends of the new Guidelines.

The average Irish car insurance premium of €578 is almost half the UK average. The average premium in the UK is £929 (€1062.14) having increased by 21.1% in the year up to February 2022.