The insurance system for Irish business in this country is ‘completely broken’, and the need for systemic reform of the insurance industry in Ireland is now ‘acute’.
This is according to Retail Excellence, which said the mood was galvanised over recent weeks as frustrations have grown palpable.
According to the retail representative body, its industry is particularly exposed to ‘excessive and false claims’, which is now the number one concern for the majority of its members.
'Completely Unsustainable'
‘What should be a basic utility is completely out of control’, they rout claims, as retailers have been reporting increasing premiums, rising as much as 50%.
‘This is completely unsustainable,’ the group said.
Retail Excellence convened a crisis insurance meeting this week, that brought together representatives of some of Ireland’s leading retailers to discuss the cost of insurance in retail and how to respond.
Peter Boland, director of Alliance for Insurance Reform, revealed findings from a recent survey that showed that liability insurance has risen by 204% over the last five years; with the retail industry’s premiums rising by even more (212% over the same time).
63% of the respondents said that they have been hit with increased excesses or new exclusions to their policy, and 49% revealed that rising insurance costs are threatening the future of the organisation.
Almost all (95%) of the respondents feel that the Government is not doing enough to address the issue of insurance costs.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
