If there was one story that gave cause for mirth this week, it was the insurers playing the poor mouth as they sought to increase insurance premiums by up to 40 per cent.

Defending the move, insurers' representatives said they had not been passing on the full extent of price rises in previous years. Now there's a thought . . . out of the goodness of their hearts, insurers taking a hit rather than burdening their clients.

Might it not be the case that they could not justify increases at a time they were making huge investment returns on customer premiums. Maybe, too, with the consolidation of the industry, insurers are more comfortable with the notion of hiking premiums in a world with less competition.