A new report by the Central Bank has called for an end to the practice of “Price Walking” where insurers charge higher premiums to motorists, who simply renew their policy rather than shopping around.

The report by the Central Bank of Ireland, referred to the practice as the most common form of ‘differential’ or ‘dual pricing’, where by different premiums are charged for customers of the same risk profile, simply because one is new to the company.

The report, which covers a study of some 3.2 million policies for both motor and home since 2019, says that price walking should be banned outright. It concluded that long-term customers, who have been with the same insurer for over 9 years, pay, on average, 14% more on private car insurance and 32% more on home insurance than the equivalent customer renewing for the first time.

The Central Bank has also recommended that insurers be required to carry out annual reviews of their pricing policies and that strict oversight be put in place.

TD Pearse Doherty, who has raised the issue of dual pricing in the Dáil many times, said the report represented a victory for consumers. He commented, “Dual pricing has been used to target customers who are less likely to shop around and results in them being charged artificially high premiums at renewal. This is the loyalty penalty.”