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The perjury will be easier to process and the quantum book will be replaced with new personal injury adjudication guidelines as part of a Cabinet-approved plan to address insurance costs.
The plan contains 66 actions designed to cut costs and reduce pressure on companies already affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of the reform plans, the ministers agreed to replace the quantum book with new guidelines on the “appropriate” level of personal injury compensation.
They also agreed to enhance the role of the Personal Injury Evaluation Board and place perjury on a legal basis, making the crime easier to prosecute.
The government has decided to “monitor” whether the levels of personal injury compensation should be limited and to examine double pricing.
The ministers also agreed to strengthen the enforcement powers of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (JPAC).
A new office will be established within the government to “encourage greater competition in the insurance market.”
Tánaiste and Business Minister Leo Varadkar said “things have to change” when it comes to insurance costs.
“For too long, the cost and availability of insurance has been a problem for businesses, consumers, and community groups and volunteers. Things have to change and I am determined to improve with this new government, “he said.
“As we reopen our economy once again, businesses and families will face financial pressures, including from insurance, and we intend to ease that in the next period.”
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the insurance industry has a “key role” in helping to reopen the economy and society at large as the country emerges from the pandemic, while Justice Minister Helen McEntee , praised the plan as ambitious.
“The perjury and related offenses bill will introduce penalties for perjury-related offenses and there will be greater cooperation between An Garda Síochána and the insurance industry to combat insurance fraud,” he said.
The Minister of State of the Department of Finance, Seán Fleming, will preside next week the first meeting of the new interdepartmental office on the subject. The Government will commit to advancing the action plan over a period of 18 months.
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