Other developments
Irish Insurance Market update
Other developments in the Irish Insurance market.
Companies Bill 2012 published
February 2013
On December 21, 2012, Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, published the companies Bill 2012. This Bill contains significant reforms especially for private companies limited by shares. The Bill will take significant time to reach final enactment and subsequent commencement. However, this is a fundamental overhaul and consolidation of Irish Company Law which has been in train for nearly ten years.
Press release of Companies Bill
Consumers need better, not more, product information
February 2013
On the occasion of the Consumer Strategy Day held by EIOPA, Insurance Europe stressed the need for clear information for insurance buyers. "Consumers need pre-contractual information that allows them to make a well-informed product comparison," said Insurance Europe's director general, Michaela Koller.
It is vital to ensure that the European Commission's proposed revisions to the 2002 EU Insurance Mediation Directive and initiative on packaged retail investment products have demonstrable benefits for consumers.
CBI Insurance Statistics 2010
February 2013
The Central Bank Insurance Statistics for 2010 were released in December. The insurance industry in aggregate recorded a profit of €66.7m for the year 2010. This compares with a loss of €89,098 for the previous year. This is mainly due to a substantial decrease in Cost of Claims Incurred from €2,809,533 to €2,143,146. Premium income also fell by 18.9% for the year to €2,616,045.
EU Gender Directive
February 2013
The EU Gender Directive came into effect on the December 21, 2012. The impact of the directive is starting to be seen within insurance pricing. It is widely speculated that the directive will have an adverse effect on the underwriting profit. In the UK it has been estimated that young male drivers have seen an 11.2% fall in their car insurance premium as a result and overall premiums have decreased by 4.9%.
Deloitte Insight: Mergers & Acquisitions
February 2013
Stephen Nolan of Deloitte produced an article for the Irish Broker association publication where he provided insight into the Merger and Acquisitions environment in the Irish Insurance Industry. In the article he noted there will be many opportunities for M&A within the Irish insurance industry. Solvency II will place many businesses in a position of needing more capital to ensure compliance. This will encourage M&A to utilise economies of scale that may occur. Increased investor confidence in Ireland, as shown by the recent Government bond auctions, is feeding into a de-risking of the Irish marketplace. However, there are still companies that are looking to dispose of underperforming assets to increase their capital base providing excellent opportunities for capital rich companies to acquire these assets. Furthermore, there is still a large amount of corporate debt in Ireland and this will provide receivership opportunities and the chance to acquire businesses at a discount. More details of this article will be released on the Insurance website soon.
Contact us
Glenn Gillard
Partner, Head of Insurance
T + 353 1 417 2802
Conor Hynes
Partner, Insurance Taxation
T + 353 1 417 2205
David Dalton
Partner, Insurance Strategy
T + 353 1 417 4801