24th January 2018
- Alliance will be the voice for the interests of the policyholders
- Businesses and civic organisations rally together
- Businesses damaged by excessive insurance premiums
ISME, the Irish SME Association today (24th January) welcomes the establishment of the Alliance for Insurance Reform. The Alliance for Insurance Reform brings together 18 civic and business organisations from across Ireland, representing 34,622 members with 628,150 employees and 41,300 volunteers to demand action to end crippling insurance premiums.
It is a response to the countless stories from small organisations where services and jobs are being damaged by excessive insurance costs.
The Alliance will be a voice for the interests of the policyholder who always comes at the bottom of the list after insurers and the legal profession and other vested interests. We are demanding urgent change that will:
- deliver real transparency on how premiums are calculated as well as information on how, when and why claims are settled
- will prevent exaggerated and misleading claims being pursued and settled and;
- will give consistency in the calculation of awards at realistic and sustainable levels
That change must come from Government, insurers and lawyers and must result in reduced premiums to sustainable levels.
Commenting on today’s launch ISME CEO Neil McDonnell said “As a membership based Association, supporting many micro to small enterprises, we are proud to support the Alliance for Insurance Reform. Too many business have fallen victim to the excessive and unjustified increases to their premiums over the last two years. In some cases business have had to shut down.”
He added,
“We need change in this area, we need a system that discourages people from making fraudulent claims, and we need a system that is based on consistency in the calculations of awards at realistic and sustainable levels. The Book of Quantum in its current guise is not fit for purpose and this needs to change”.
ENDS
For further information, please contact
Neil McDonnell, Chief Executive
T: 01 6622755, M: 087 2995658
E: neil@isme.ie
Note to Editors: