Conway-Walsh challenges Mayo TDs to back insurance Bill

MAYO Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh has called on Dáil Deputies from across all parties to back a Bill to end the insurance rip-off and ensure customers get a fair price on their car and home insurance.

The Sinn Féin Bill will be debated in the Dáil this Wednesday.

Said Deputy Conway-Walsh: “Insurance costs in Ireland are far too high and it’s time to ensure customers are treated fairly.

“Currently, companies are allowed to charge a higher premium to customers who have been with them for a while. This is effectively a loyalty penalty, which sees customers out of pocket by hundreds of euros every year on their home and car insurance.

“This rip-off is outrageous and cannot be allowed to continue. Sinn Féin's Insurance Bill will finally put an end to this by banning these unfair penalties.

“It will require the Central Bank to draw up and enforce regulations for this ban and give them the power to sanction any banks that breach the ban.

“It will require banks to tell you exactly how your premium has been calculated.”

She continued: “The current pricing penalties only serve to cut into customers’ pockets and increase banks’ profits, without providing any better services or cover to policy holders. The practice is now banned in over 20 US states and last year the Financial Conduct Authority announced it will be banned in Britain and the north.

“The FCA estimates that introducing a ban would cut insurance costs for customers by 10%. Over a decade it would save customers between €4 - €13 billion in total.

“It would also save customers the time and hassle of having to switch between insurance companies in order to keep a competitive price.

“I am calling on all Mayo TDs from all parties to back Sinn Féin's Bill this week and stick up for customers here in Mayo who have been fleeced by unfair insurance costs for far too long.”