Madam, - My wife and I live in a two-bedroom terraced house in Dublin which we bought a few years ago. Our house insurance premium for 2006 calendar year was €305. During the year, we made a legitimate claim, having been victims of crime. It was the first time we had done so in our three years of holding a policy. The claim was promptly paid by our insurer, Hibernian Direct, for the amount of €235. Our policy quotation for 2007 is, well, €540. Using such masterful application of complex probability mathematics, I could be a fine actuary. Getting the customers to pay for their own claims is quite a business idea.
A company operating in this manner cannot fail to make massive profits.
Apparently, insurance companies make more profit per capita in Ireland than anywhere else in the world. This must be directly related to the regulation of the industry in this country, or the lack thereof. - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BREEN, Mount Tallant Avenue, Dublin 6W.