ISME featured in the media
SUNDAY
The Business Post, 08/12/19
The Generation Game
Families in business face the challenges typical to all enterprises, but they do so with the added layer of family involvement – a layer that can present as many benefits as it can downsides. Neil McDonnell, chief executive of the Irish SME association, ISME, said that access to affordable finance is still an issue.
Read here (Paywall)
MONDAY
Today FM, 09/12/19
Neil McDonnell spoke with Matt Cooper on Today FM’s ‘The Last Word’ about Amy Molloy’s investigative articles on GPs and compo culture.
Listen back here
THURSDAY
Captive International, 12/12/19
Irish SME Association considers launching group captives
The Irish SME Association (ISME) is considering developing specialist group captives to tackle the rising cost, and declining availability, of insurance among its members.
Read here
The Echo, 12/12/19
Supporting the ‘home team’ keeps the economy moving
With Christmas just around the corner, ISME, the Irish SME Association is appealing to Irish consumers to make a concerned effort to ‘shop local’ and ‘buy Irish’ this Christmas. Uncertain times lie ahead for Irish retailers with Brexit on the horizon, and ISME encourages people to support indigenous businesses and SMEs.
Read here
Insurance reform in the media
SATURDAY
InsuranceReform.ie, 07/12/19
Letter to the Editor of The Irish Times
Mark Paul’s assertion that there is no “compo culture” in Ireland (Friday 6 December) makes some valid criticisms of the insurance industry. However, his rejection of a compo culture in Ireland puts him firmly into the “flat earther and climate denier” category.
Read here
Irish Mirror, 07/12/19
Supermac’s founder says up to 20,000 job losses are imminent over Ireland’s ‘compo culture’
Supermac’s founder Pat McDonagh has said he believes up to 20,000 job losses are imminent due to fraudulent insurance claims. An outspoken critic of Ireland’s “compo culture”, he has hit out at exaggerated insurance claims and said spiralling costs will result in business closures.
Read here
The Independent, 07/12/19
Pearse Doherty leads public meeting on insurance reform
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty was in Bray last Thursday night for a public meeting about insurance reform. Deputy John Brady, along with Cllr Grace McManus and Cllr Dermot ‘Daisy’ O’Brien welcomed Deputy Doherty, who is the party spokesperson for finance.
Read here
The Independent, 07/12/19
Aqua Dome: ‘urgent action needed on insurance reform’
Denis Reen, the head of the company which runs the Aqua Dome, has said that he has no other choice but to repeat the same message from last year about the urgent action needed on insurance reform and the compensation culture sweeping the country.
Read here
MONDAY
The Independent, 09/12/19
Compo culture: lawyers ask GP to omit client’s history of claims
Family doctors are facing pressure to bury patients’ claims history, or to amend medical reports for personal injury claims, the Irish Independent can reveal. Our undercover investigation has already exposed how some lawyers and GPs are fuelling compensation culture by actively encouraging patients to bring claims.
Read here
The Independent, 09/12/19
Amy Molloy: ‘The public will lose faith in any watchdog that repeatedly refuses to acknowledge a problem exists in its profession’
When given evidence of a solicitor bragging about how two clients had bogus claims dismissed and didn’t have to pay costs, the Law Society of Ireland said it couldn’t comment on specific cases. When asked if it would be concerned by a different solicitor referring all his clients to the same GP to have medical reports prepared, the society said it couldn’t comment on hypothetical cases.
Read here
The Independent, 09/12/19
Clamp down on rogues who fuel claims culture, minister urges Law Society
The minister responsible for tackling spiralling insurance costs has called for investigations into how some doctors and solicitors are fuelling a compensation culture. Junior Finance Minister Michael D’Arcy says medical and legal regulatory bodies must probe the involvement of their members in exaggerated or fraudulent claims.
Read here
The Independent, 09/12/19
‘The doctor basically just wrote all the things I said…’
A man who brought a personal injury claim after a car accident says the medical expert his solicitor referred him to “barely examined him”. The claimant was involved in a rear-ending accident in 2017 and suffered injuries to his neck and lower back.
Read here
The Independent, 09/12/19
Editorial: ‘Scandal of Insurance costs must be on election agenda’
Many of us are puzzled by the strange dichotomies which surround the insurance sector. On one hand we more usually forward-pay for a service we cannot be sure we are going to get if the evil day comes upon us.
Read here
The Independent, 09/12/19
Boy (12) who broke arm travelling up escalator awarded €35k
A 12-year-old schoolboy, who broke his left arm while travelling upwards on an escalator in Dunnes St Stephens Green store, was awarded €35,000 in the Circuit Civil Court today.
Read here
The Irish Times 09/12/19
Couple’s €75,000 defamation claim over being asked to pay restaurant bill fails
‘Quite frankly, asking someone to pay for a meal isn’t defamatory’, says judge. A couple, who claimed they had been defamed by staff who asked them to pay a dinner bill at a Dublin pub-restaurant, have lost a €75,000 claim.
Read here
TUESDAY
The Independent, 10/12/19
‘Fraudulent claimants have nothing to lose…they are getting a free shot’
As a senator, businessman and former solicitor, Pádraig Ó Céidigh says there were many watershed moments that motivated him to introduce perjury legislation in Ireland. This country’s personal injury system and the ongoing insurance crisis have been the subject of much debate.
Read here
The Independent, 10/12/19
Insurance scammers facing 10 years in jail for perjury
New laws to crack down on ‘compo culture’ by jailing people who lie under oath for up to 10 years could be passed by TDs within days. The Government is moving to fast-track legislation that will seek to put the offence of perjury on a statutory footing for the first time.
Read here
The Independent, 10/12/19
Flanagan urges industry to hand details of bogus claims to gardaí
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has urged the insurance industry to provide details to the gardaí of any suspected bogus injury claims of which it is aware. It came as he defended the Government’s efforts to tackle compensation culture after the Irish Independent exposed how some doctors are actively encouraging patients to bring claims for whiplash injuries.
Read here
RTE, 10/12/19
250 insurance firms exited Irish market over six years
Almost 250 insurance companies have left the Irish market over the past six years, new figures show. Since 2014, the licences of 12 life and 42 non-life insurers who had head offices or branches here were revoked.
Read here
The Journal.ie, 10/12/19
Varadkar accused of having a ‘terrible air of detachment’ for saying health and car insurance premiums are levelling off
Comments made by the Taoiseach in relation to the cost of insurance premiums have been criticised by Micheál Martin for having a “terrible air of detachment”. Leo Varadkar criticised those involved in insurance fraud, but added that health and car insurance premiums have “levelled off”.
Read here
The Sun, 10/12/19
Insurance scammers could face up to ten years for perjury if TDs pass new laws
Insurance scammers who lie under oath could face up to ten years imprisonment if TDs pass new laws in the next few days, it’s claimed. It’s reported the motion has cross-party support and officials are moving to fast-track legislation to make perjury a statutory offence.
Read here
WEDNESDAY
The Irish Times, 11/12/19
Call for clarity on cap for personal injury damages
The Alliance for Insurance Reform has called for further clarity after a report published on Wednesday cited the “cap” on general damages in personal injury court awards as €500,000, and not €450,000 as had been previously believed.
Read here
Extra.ie, 11/12/19
248 insurance companies have exited Irish market in past six years
Some 248 insurance companies have exited the Irish market over the past six years, figures supplied by Fianna Fail finance spokesperson Michael McGrath show. Since 2014, the licences of 12 life nad 42 non-life insurers based in Ireland have been revoked, and a further 194 based in other countries and operating here under EU passporting rules have pulled out of Ireland.
Read here
Donegal Daily, 11/12/19
Doherty’s insurance reform bill reaches the Seanad stage
Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty is calling on all parties in the Seanad to support Sinn Féin’s Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill, which reaches all stage in the Seanad today. The legislation would modernise insurance contracts and prevent insurance companies refusing a claim when it has not received a full and complete disclosure from the customer, even in a situation where if this information has been disclosed, it would have had minimal or no impact on the decision to provide cover in the first place.
Read here
THURSDAY
RTE, 12/12/19
NCC warns cost of public liability insurance impacting competition
The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) has warned that the rising cost of public liability insurance is adversely impacting competitiveness. The body also warns that legal services around the enforcement of commercial contracts in Ireland are both expensive and slow.
Read here
The Independent, 12/12/19
Supermac’s founder hits out at €380,000 cost of defending injury claims
Supermac’s founder Pat McDonagh has criticised the “astronomical” cost of defending personal injury cases after the company racked up more than €380,000 in legal costs fighting eight claims.
Read here
BreakingNews.ie, 12/12/19
Woman sues Dunnes Stores over glass jug which shattered after she poured hot water into it
A woman who claims a glass jug she bought in Dunnes Stores exploded and shattered after she poured hot water from a kettle into it has sued in the High Court. Eva Cekanova, who is from Slovakia, told the High Court in her home country tea is made in a big glass jug.
Read here
Food For Thought, 12/12/19
No More Committees – We Need Insurance Reform Now
Insurance costs are rapidly becoming the biggest threat to many Irish businesses and especially those in the hospitality sector. What is frustrating is that while the causes of high insurance costs have been thoroughly researched, the remedies have been painfully slow in coming.
Read here
KFM, 12/12/19
Law Reform Commission invites public views on Kildare Senator’s insurance reform bill
The public’s view on a Kildare Senator’s insurance reform bill is being sought by the Law Reform Commission. Senator Anthony Lawlor’s Civil Liability (Capping of General Damages) Bill 2019 aims to cap pay-outs for soft-tissue injuries and whiplash.
Read here
The Irish Times, 12/12/19
Man wins ‘fleeting defamation’ case against Luas and is awarded €500
A man has been awarded €500 and his legal costs after the High Court found he was subject to a “fleeting defamation” during an incident in which he claimed a Luas tram security guard racially profiled him and his brother.
Read here
FRIDAY
The Irish Examiner, 13/12/19
Rising insurance costs big threat to business
Companies continue to join up with the lobby group Alliance for Insurance Reform in its ongoing push to ease cost pressures on businesses. The Alliance has been joined by the South Dublin County Public Participation Network (SDCPPN) – of which Killinarden Community Centre based in Tallaght, Co Dublin, is a member.
Read here
