What's the news?
You know how your insurance keeps going up, right? Well, here's one of the potential reasons why it might be doing that. The Car Rental Council of Ireland (yes, it's a thing - it is a grouping of all the major car rental companies) has told us that not only do its members face mounting insurance bills, but that one in five of the claims made against them are fraudulent.
A recent survey of members reveals that many claims are actually 'staged', with cars crashing into one another at prearranged meeting points. The vehicular damage is light, but then the claims for personal injuries come rolling in, and Ireland's apparent culture of big payouts for small injuries is being blamed for rising costs - even to the point where the Council is accusing criminals of coming here from other EU nations to stage lucrative accidents. One suspects that we might need to get our own criminal household in order before looking to outsiders, but still...
"Car rental companies are being forced to incur significant legal costs to defend theses fraudulent claims" says Paul Redmond, Chief Executive of the Car Rental Council. "Exorbitant settlement costs impact not just car rental insurance costs but also add to the high cost of motor insurance in Ireland. Recent briefings by Insurance Ireland and the AA highlight the problem. The car rental industry support calls for regulatory reform to ensure fraudsters are deterred as currently there seems to be no consequence for making a fraudulent claim."
Mr Redmond says that the Council will shortly be meeting with the Garda Fraud Squad to try and thrash out a strategy for dealing with such fraudulent claims.