Competition in the insurance industry is likely to be boosted by the entry of a new company to the Irish market that intends to write €80 million worth of general and motor insurance for business and consumers over the next three years.
Newly-launched ARB Insurance said yesterday that it has begun selling motor and general insurance in the Irish market. The company is selling through a network of 60 brokers. Director Mr John Kennedy said it would have the capacity to write up to €30 million worth of business in its first year, and said that the company had a three-year target of €80 million.
The company is offering property and liability insurance to small and medium-sized firms and building contractors. Business groups complained about the lack of competition in this area during last summer's Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business investigation of high insurance costs.
It is also writing policies for the motor trade, light commercial vehicles, private motor insurance and travel insurance.
ARB Insurance Company Ltd is incorporated in Gibraltar, and is licensed to trade in the Republic. It is 70 per cent owned by ARB Underwriting, part of the ARB Group, which has been trading as a wholesale broker here since 1929.
Managing director Mr Cathal O'Brien said yesterday that ARB Insurance would write its own business, rather than acting as a broker for underwriters in London, the business in which the rest of the company is involved.
"We are entering the market as a new risk carrier," he said. Mr O'Brien added that the rest of the group would continue with the wholesale broking business. It turns over €12 million to €14 million a year in this business. Most of the premia collected are passed on to underwriters in London.
ARB Insurance is backed by a number of international re-insurers. In a statement yesterday, the company said all of them had a minimum rating of AA+ from credit rating agency Standard & Poors.
Yesterday, Mr O'Brien said the firm was encouraged to enter the market by the fact that both the level and frequency of compensation claims were falling. He also claimed that the market was beginning to factor in the likely impact of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).
