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Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, has today (15th August 2019) announced that she has requested the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to undertake a study into the public liability insurance market. She made the request using her powers under section 10(4) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014.

In her request, Minister Humphreys asked that the study should examine “how that market operates, how competition works in that market and whether any practice or method of competition affects the pricing levels of public liability insurance within that market”.

The Minister added:

The purpose of conducting this study is to bring greater transparency to the market by shining a light on the practices of insurance firms and intermediaries including brokers.

Commenting on the issue of public liability insurance, the Minister stated:

The issue of insurance for businesses, and its impact on their ability to operate, is a growing concern. In particular, the issue of increases in public liability premia for businesses is being raised with me as Minister as posing a potential systemic threat to the very existence of many businesses.

She also noted that concerns have been expressed directly to her on the roles of insurance firms and intermediaries (including brokers) in what, at times, appear to be very sharply increasing levels of public liability insurance premia.

She concluded:

The study forms part of the Government-wide response to tackling the cost of insurance. There is no silver-bullet solution to this issue but we are committed to ensuring that we are using every lever available to us to ease the pressure on businesses and consumers.

The Minster has requested the CCPC, which is independent in the exercise of its statutory functions, to complete the study as a matter of priority.