New Law Society president hits out at insurance industry ‘propaganda’

Stuart Gilhooly has launched his term as president of the Law Society of Ireland by hitting out against insurance industry “propaganda” against accident victims.

Mr Gilhooly, a partner at Dublin firm HJ Ward & Co., will serve as president of the 16,000-strong solicitors’ profession until November 2017.

He has questioned a study commissioned by insurers AIG which purportedly found that 15 per cent of people in Ireland know somebody who has falsified an insurance claim.

Mr Gilhooly said: “The insurance industry takes a highly sceptical and even aggressive attitude towards every claim made. The courts system is rigorous in testing for false claims. All evidence of injury is confirmed by doctors, the truth of all facts in the case must be sworn by the victim and the severest penalties including imprisonment can be applied where false claims are found to have been made.

“Prosecutions for fraudulent claims are extremely rare. This further piece of self-serving insurance industry propaganda against accident victims is designed simply to distract from the massive increases in motor insurance premiums, whose true causes lie elsewhere.

“As the Chief Executive of the Injuries Board confirmed yesterday, there has been no big increase in claims or awards to warrant rises of 70 per cent in the average premium over the last three years.”

He added: “Years of under-reserving and under-charging by the motor insurance industry, which has driven competitors from the market, together with a collapse in their investment income, are the true causes of this crisis for the premium-paying public. The insurers continue to blame everyone but themselves for this crisis.”