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THE GOVERNMENT HAS pledged to introduce a new legal offense of perjury as part of efforts to reduce insurance fraud and costs to clients.
The promise is part of the Government’s Action Plan for Insurance Reform which, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, today contains 66 different actions.
Among the actions is the legislation that would facilitate the prosecution of the crime of perjury.
Speaking today at the announcement of the plans, Varadkar said that fraud is “only part of the picture” but that it is an area that is being addressed.
“The legislation in force at this time is to make perjury a legal crime, so exaggerating false claims becomes a legal crime. It is now a common law crime, so there have been very few prosecutions in recent history, ”he said.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the perjury law would also work in conjunction with “increased cooperation between An Garda Síochána and the insurance industry to combat insurance fraud.”
He said penalties for perjury would be introduced:
The crime of perjury that is established would make a difference and deter people from filing fraudulent claims, especially if they feel like they are going to be caught.
Other measures outlined in the plan would see new guidelines on appropriate levels of personal injury compensation introduced to replace the Quantum Book.
An enhanced role for the Personal Injury Assessment Board will be introduced, as well as an expansion of the National Claims Information Database.
The government has said it will also “monitor whether personal injury award levels should be limited,” but that this would not be considered until the other measures had time to go into effect.
The Tánaiste said it believes it is “unlikely” that we will see premiums fall in the coming months, but that it would be disappointed if they did not drop a year from now.
Earlier this year, a report from the Law Reform Commission found that introducing a cap on damages awarded in personal injury claims would be permissible under Irish constitutional law.
“We will test Plan A first and it will be ready by the middle of next year, the option of Plan B remains open to us,” Varadkar said.
The insurance reform plan follows the establishment of a task force in 2016 to address the rising cost of insurance for citizens and businesses in Ireland.
It was made up of people from all government departments, meeting with organizations such as Insurance Ireland, AA, Consumers Association of Ireland, and Law Society of Ireland.
Reacting to today’s plans, Insurance Ireland welcomed a number of different aspects, saying it will “focus on reducing the cost of claims in the marketplace for the benefit of policyholders.”
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“Insurance Ireland particularly welcomed the recognition of the Judicial Council’s Personal Injury Guidelines Committee for providing guidance on personal injury claims, as well as monitoring whether insurance claims should be limited,” said Moyagh Murdock, CEO of Insurance Ireland.
Insurance Ireland believes this is a very important step, which together with the reforms of the PIAB, among other areas, will be vital in bringing about a real change in Ireland’s claims cost regime.
The Alliance for Insurance Reform has also welcomed the proposals, but has said that change is coming too slowly.
“As a declaration of intent, this plan meets all the requirements. But progress on real insurance reform has come at a snail’s pace and most of the Action Plan proposals have been circulating since early 2017, “said Eoin McCambridge, group director.
“It’s four years of unsustainably high insurance premiums closing deals and preventing volunteer groups from doing what they offered to do. We call on the government not to treat the terms of this plan as objectives to be achieved, but rather to urge them to accelerate the pace of reforms.
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