Insurer RSA’s Irish unit, which was the subject of a costly accounting scandal in 2013, delivered a rebound in insurance premiums in the first quarter as companies across the industry continued to hike pricing.
The London-listed RSA group commented on Irish premium growth briefly in its first-quarter trading update, without giving figures. It said that premiums across the UK and Irish business rose 2 per cent in the first quarter to £635 million, year-on-year.
The Irish performance "contrasts with full-year 2015 when Irish premiums fell by 4 per cent on a constant currency basis to £261 million as the insurer continued to make strong progress in remediation," said Emer Lang, an analyst with Davy, in a note.
Irish motor insurance costs rose almost 4 per cent on the month in March and over 32 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. Home insurance rates rose by an annual 9.5 per cent in the same month.
FBD, Ireland’s only publicly-quoted insurer, said last week that increases in Irish insurance costs so far this year are necessary to return the beleagured industry to profit. The country’s insurance industry has been in difficulty of late as companies failed to raise enough money from selling policies to cover rising claims and expenses.
