Claim Culture Raising the Price of Doing Business in Ireland.

There is a massive story this week in Ireland around compensation claims in Ireland but I will give you some background about insurance premiums in Ireland. Insurance premiums are getting higher and higher in Ireland as of late and the answer we are receiving off the insurance companies is that that compensation culture is rampant in our society. Parks are being closed down because kids fall off playground equipment and blame the local council. They take a claim and they are awarded thousands off the courts.
Motor insurance premiums are the same. We are one of the only countries in the world that can claim for whiplash. The average claim for whiplash is about €15,000. None many doctors can prove against whiplash so it's easy money for those inclined. My car insurance premium this year was around 700 euro. Not huge but not small either.
Even in my job , we get around 5 or 6 claims a year for various trips or falls around the store. It is getting ridiculous.Our company is beginning to fight them now. Recently a little girl was playing on an escalator ( in front of her father) and she fell and sliced her finger. Claim went in straight away even though her father was the negligent party in all of this.
The government are trying to tackle insurance fraud as they are seeing the affect it is having on local businesses struggling to survive. Something has to give. This is where it gets interesting
Introducing Maria Bailey , elected member of the Irish government who are fighting this battle against insurance fraud.

A story was published last week in a national paper that Maria was at the Dean Hotel with friends in 2015. In the hotel is a bar called Sophie's. The bar has swings which many patrons sit on and chat. It's is a nice little feature for in up market bar. Never been on them myself but you get the picture.


Anyway Mrs Bailey was on the slides when she fell off and hurt herself. The hotel staff came to her aid and gave her plasters for a few cuts and bruises and off she went.
The next day Mrs Bailey checked into a private hospital called the beacon complaining of back pain and sued The Dean Hotel for what is reportedly €60,000 in damages. The Dean had agreed to pay her medical costs but when they received the medical bill of €7,000 they sent it onto their legal team. They had offered to pay up to €700 euro in fees.
The papers got hold of this story last week and it has been snowballing ever since. But they had more. Just two weeks after the accident Mrs Bailey rang a 10km road race. Here she is here with a picture to proof it. She uploaded it herself.

Just two weeks later she attended a music festival. For a woman that is crippled with back pain she seems to be doing alright in the few weeks after her 60k claim went in to a relatively small hotel in Dublin.
The public are appalled by her actions especially a person who is a member of a government who want to get rid of the comp culture in the state. They are demanding her resignation. The government are red faced by the incident especially during the European Elections. It doesn't paint them in a good light whatsoever. Leo Varadkar our Taoiseach or prime minister is set to have a meeting with Maria Bailey this week and I would not hold out much hope for her. I feel a resignation will have to be forthcoming or the government will be damaged.
This morning Maria went on a radio station defending her actions. She never acquired permission from party headquarters. She defended her actions and came across very bad indeed. Basically adding fuel to the fire. She said she wasn't going to let keyboard warriors bully her. Another member of her own party was live after the interview and she said it was disappointing that Maria did the interview. This story is not going anywhere any time soon. And rumours have it that there is another claim in with Aer Lingus. I cannot wait to find out what this is about.