Insurance - A Rock And A Hard Place

With the recent announcement by Ulster Bank and KBC that they are to leave Ireland, it focusses the lens on the General Insurers in Ireland and the viability of shareholders return. There are more players in the Insurance industry compared to the Banking industry, which has resulted in more competition. However, that being considered, the various Insurers are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to managing various stakeholder expectations:

The expectation from policyholders and the public is to bring premium costs down with the political class continuously beating that drum to gain favour with the public. However sometimes these stakeholders forget or ignore that the cost of claims and to a lesser extent the cost of regulation are the main factors which drives the premium amount.