Insurance reform – “We’ve been here before” says AIR
The Alliance for Insurance Reform has pointed out that a number of different government bodies will need to pull together to get results sooner, rather than later.
AIR has stated that, “We will need the Judicial Council to move swiftly to dramatically reduce general damages for minor injuries and the Garda Commissioner to establish a full network of divisional fraud units with dedicated fraud investigators and a specialised support unit at the National Economic Crime Bureau. On the reforms that are proposed, we cannot afford any further delays as most of them have already been round the houses before.
“We will be seeking clarification from the political parties on the commitment to reform the Occupiers Liability Act and The Civil Liability Act with regard to duty of care. If their approach is merely to strengthen waivers and notices, this will not be sufficient to address an issue that has become all the more important in the light of the current pandemic. We must rebalance the duty of care so that occupiers are required to take a duty of care that is reasonable, practical and proportionate but not absolute, ignoring personal responsibility.
“We also note with concern that there’s no mention of commencing the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019, an important piece of consumer protection legislation that was signed into law by the President in December 2019 but has still not been commenced by the Minister at the request of the insurance industry. This legislation cannot be allowed to be sidelined on behalf of a narrow-interest lobby group.”
