Laois sees drop in claims for accidents caused by uninsured drivers

Laois has seen a 10% drop in claims relating to accidents caused on the roads by uninsured drivers. 

That's according to the  Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) which has just released new figures.

There were 19 claims related to uninsured drivers in Laois in 2023 which is down from 21 in 2022. 
Nationally the number of claims relating to accidents caused by uninsured or untraced vehicles grew by 11% in 2023. Last year the MIBI received a total of 1,927 claims. This represented 187 additional claims from the 1,740 they received in 2022.

Looking at the breakdown of the claims relating to uninsured driving by county, the largest number came in Dublin (822), followed by Cork (141), Limerick (112), Kildare (102) and Galway (91).

Speaking about the level of claims received in 2023, David Fitzgerald, CEO of the MIBI said, “This jump of almost 200 claims due to accidents caused by uninsured vehicles should be a cause of concern for every law abiding motorist in the country. It is illegal to drive without valid motor insurance, yet as these figures show there are still a significant number of people who are willingly flouting the law.

“Every one of the uninsured motorists behind these claims is effectively putting their hands in the pockets of law abiding motorists and taking their money. As they broke the law and drove without insurance cover, it becomes the responsibility of the MIBI to handle the compensation associated with these claims. We are a not for profit organisation so our funding comes indirectly from drivers who pay their motor insurance. Essentially these uninsured drivers took millions of euro from the rest of us last year and added €30 to €35 to the average motor insurance policy.

“With the level of claims growing, it reaffirms the importance of the new law enforcement system to clamp down on uninsured driving. We are now providing the Gardaí with updated insurance information for 3 million vehicles on Irish roads on a daily basis. So if they scan your registration number they’ll know in seconds if there is valid insurance in place or not. We’re on record saying our expectation is that this will be a gamechanger for law enforcement in dealing with the scourge of uninsured driving. We hope that as this new weapon begins to bite, it won’t be long before the number of uninsured claims we receive also begins to fall.

“That will be good for road safety on Irish roads and also good for the pockets of law abiding motorists across the country,” Mr. Fitzgerald concluded.