No, this is not about the bowsies who pretend they’ve gotten whiplash after someone taps their rear bumper or the lowlifes who stage fake accidents and claim thousands. This is about the racket perpetrated by Irish insurance companies whose premiums are based, not on any calculation of prices versus payouts, but are set by working out the minimum they need to charge to make a profit and then simply plucking a figure miles above that out of thin air.
But it’s not, they’ll claim with outrage! The cost of insurance premiums is based on long-established methodology, they’ll scream. But if they all use the same methodology then why are there such huge variations between a) different Irish companies, and b) everywhere else on the planet? The answer is simple – insurance is something you usually have to have, certainly in terms of car insurance – it is not a luxury item you can choose to buy or not buy. In other words the geebags have you by the short and curlies and they use that position to screw every cent they can out of you. In short, they are a bunch of money-grabbing, greedy gougers.
Unfortunately, in Ireland, we’re a lazy lot, which fact helps to line the insurers’ pockets even more. You see, when it comes to renewal time, a lot of companies simply hike up their premiums. They know that many people will continue to pay the increased premium through a standing order without noticing the price hike, or else they won’t take the time to ring up and find out why their bill has suddenly increased by bleedin’ 50%. If people did keep an eye on their insurance premiums, they’d quickly realise how much they’re being scammed.
Repeated surveys show that shopping around for say, car insurance, can save people hundreds, if not thousands of euro. It’s the same with home insurance and travel insurance and all other types of insurance – insurance chicanery is rampant. So do your bit – shop around, save yourself a packet and get on the shitehawks’ tits at the same time.
In fact, make it your number one policy.
