Sinn Fein draft legislation to ban Insurance ‘Dual Pricing’

Local Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley said “The report carried out by the Central Bank confirms what Sinn Fein has been outlining regarding the practice of “Dual Pricing’’ for motor and home insurance.

“I have previously raised this practice in the Dáil and my party colleague Pearse Doherty demanded in 2019 that the Central Bank carry out a probe of the insurance industry. We produced evidence of this malpractice last year and I am glad that the Central Bank has investigated it.

“Dual Pricing’’ is a practice where insurance companies charge loyal and long  time customers higher premiums than others, as they know they are less likely to shop around. The differential in pricing can be up to €700 for car insurance. Companies study computer data and customers records to calculate the levels of loyalty a customer may have. Companies refer to it internally as a loyalty premium.

“The Central Banks initial report has now found that the majority of Irish insurance companies are involved in this unfair and immoral practice.

Sinn Fein draft legislation to ban Insurance ‘Dual Pricing’

Unfortunately, those most impacted by this are those on lower incomes and those who pay their insurance premiums on a monthly instalment.

The Central Bank has written to the CEO’s of insurance companies and want to examine documentation of thousands of premiums.

“Now that we know what is happening, action is required to stamp it out. Sinn Fein have drafted legislation to outlaw this exploitation of loyal customers.

The Government want to await further examination of the practice of the Central Bank, but this could take a year or more.

It has gone on long enough and those on lower income are the ones penalised the most. It is time to put a ban on this practice by the insurance companies.’’