HIBERNIAN Aviva yesterday said it expected to increase car insurance premiums by at least 7.5pc this year despite the deepening recession. The insurance giant's chief executive Stuart Purdy made the comments as he revealed a 50pc collapse in the company's annual operating profits, to €181m (€203m).The poorer result included a €40m hit for weather-related claims, a multi-million euro provision for redundancies and a "5pc to 7pc" fall in average premiums, Mr Purdy said. Figures from UK parent company Aviva also showed the Irish division made losses of £4m on its core general and health insurance underwriting business last year, against profits of £101m in 2007.
Describing the result as "solid", Mr Purdy said increases in general insurance premiums were "needed" to deal with a 30pc rise in claims over the past year and significant falls in premiums over the past five years. "We're seeing an increase in 'own damage' claims and we're seeing people claim for things they maybe wouldn't have claimed for before the downturn," said Mr Purdy.
news source : http://www.independent.ie/
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