The Irish Insurance Federation has until the end of the week to disclose full information on premiums and claims to the Government-backed body investigating motor insurance costs.
The Motor Insurance Advisory Board was forced to set the deadline after earlier data provided by the federation were found to be unreliable. An audit found the information had overstated claims costs and understated income, board sources say.
The request for raw data on individual policies sold between 1993 and 1999 followed an interim report prepared by the board last July. This report, disclosed in Saturday's Irish Times, found that - contrary to their stated position - motor insurers made profits on all categories of drivers except those under 18.
It also found that young drivers - those under 25 - were the most profitable sector of the market and that women were bearing more than their fair share of insurance costs.
The federation challenged the findings, saying it had concerns about the methodology of the study and its conclusions. Mr Mike Kemp, its chief executive, said that, despite the difficulties, the federation and its member companies were "co-operating fully" with the board.
Senior board sources said yesterday the insurers were not in a position to challenge the findings of the survey as their own figures - supplied to the board last year - supported the findings of the interim report.
The federation's figures also show that the insurance companies made profits on all age groups bar the under-18s.
The federation's data also confirm that drivers under 25 are the most profitable sector of the market, with premiums exceeding claims by up to £255 per policy for 23-year-old drivers.
The board's source also contested the federation's claim that it was co-operating fully. It is understood the insurers told the board only last week that a firm of actuaries had been working on an analysis of Irish motor insurance costs since last September.
"They [the actuaries] have had access to the data we have been waiting months for," said the board source.
The board rejected the information provided last December on the basis that it was unusable. Its own audit of the figures found claims were overstated and premium income understated. The figures provided were the data motor insurance companies share among themselves. "The data the industry relies on is useless," said the board source.
