Insurance companies are raking in the profits as premiums soar for Irish customers.
Companies have recorded a staggering 1,300% growth in profits, while car, home and business insurance continue to rise.
New data from Insurance Ireland shows 17 general insurers made combined operating profits of €227million in 2017, up from just €16million in 2016. The increase represents a 1,318% boost in profits.
Much of these profits came from motor insurance policies, with insurers making profits of €125m from private and commercial customers, Independent.ie reports.
The average motor insurance premium has risen sharply in recent years, with a 70% increase recorded from 2013 to 2016.
Although a slight decrease has been recorded recently, motor premiums are still 50% higher than in 2008.
Over 200,000 claims were made against insurers last year, with six in ten claims motor-related.
And insurers also cleaned up on property insurance, making combined profits of a whopping €84.3million in 2017.
Michael Kilcoyne, Chairman of the Consumers Association says consumers are being ripped off.
He said: "It is time they started sharing the profits with the rest of us. They have a captive market in motors and they charge what they like."
However, an Insurance Ireland spokesman claimed that general insurers had made underwriting losses for five years in the run-up to 2017.
An underwriting loss is incurred after an insurer has paid out claims and accounted for administrative expenses over a certain period.
They said: "Irish general insurers had underwriting losses in motor and liability insurance of over €1.1bn in the five years to 2017 - €757m in motor and €349m in liability.
"The liability markets were still loss making in 2017 with underwriting losses of €47m."
