There has been a big increase in motor insurance premiums this year

If your insurance is running out, be prepared for a shock.

After a bank holiday weekend filled with fun, the bank account may be lower than it should be and this is the last bit of news you need to hear. According to a recent poll carried out by AA Ireland, 64% of motorists have seen their motor insurance premiums increase by at least 15%. Almost a third of the 3,000 surveyed stated that at the time of their last renewal, their motor insurance premium had increased by between 15% and 30%. Nearly 25% of those surveyed reported a year-on-year increase of between 30% and 50%. Meanwhile, almost a tenth of respondents (9.16%) had seen their premiums rise by more than 50% year-on-year. Conor Faughan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs, stated: “While it’s impossible to predict what the future holds for insurance prices, the AA has been highlighting the issue of rising premiums for a long time now and in November 2015 released a set of simple proposals to help tackle this issue. "Thankfully at the start of this year Minister Eoghan Murphy and the Cost of Insurance Working Group released a report, which contained many of the AA’s original proposals such as the expanded use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition by Gardaí to identify uninsured drivers and reduce fraud, outlining steps the government will take in response to the current situation.” While the majority of motorists have seen an increase in their premiums, the AA survey also found that a significant group of motorists have seen no rise in the cost of insurance. 8.33% of those polled stated that the cost of their insurance had stayed approximately the same. Meanwhile, 5.54% of those surveyed had seen a reduction in their motor insurance premiums of at least 5% Faughan concluded: “It’s interesting to see that, even in the wider context of rising premiums, quite a sizeable percentage of motorists have seen no increase or a reduction in their premiums." His advice for those who had seen their premium rise in the last year was to shop around to find the best option available or to try calling your current insurer in an attempt to lower your renewal quote. According to the survey, drivers aged between 35 and 46 were the most likely to have seen an increase in their premium, with 87.69% of those within this age bracket reporting an increase in their premium of at least 5%