IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Grainne Callanan, April McClements and Aisling Kavanagh, Matheson LLP
sions of the Consumer Rights Act 2022 (the “2022 Act”). The 2022 Act provides that a term in a consum- er contract relating to arbitration is unfair if it requires the consumer to pay their own costs. The High Court considered that the arbitration clause would be an unfair term if it required the consumer to pay their own costs; however, the arbitration clause in that case contained no such requirement. Mediation Under the Mediation Act 2017 (the “Mediation Act”), solicitors in Ireland must advise their clients of the merits of mediation as an ADR mechanism before pro- ceedings are issued. The Mediation Act provides that any court may adjourn legal proceedings to allow the parties to engage in mediation. The court can make such an order on its own initiative or on application by either party to the proceedings. There may be cost implications if either party fails to engage in ADR following a court direction. Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman The FSPO is the amalgamation of the Financial Ser- vices Ombudsman and the Pensions Ombudsman, pursuant to the FSPO Act 2017. It is an independ- ent body established to resolve disputes between consumers and insurance providers, either through informal means or through formal investigation. The FSPO’s decision is legally binding, with a statutory right of appeal to the High Court. 9.8 Penalties for Late Payment of Claims It is currently not settled in Irish law whether damages are available for the late payment of claims. Howev- er, under Section 26 of CICA, where an insurer is in breach of any duty under the Act, the court has the discretion to order that a sum payable in a claim under a contract of insurance be increased in proportion to the breach involved. 9.9 Insurers’ Rights of Subrogation Insurers have subrogation rights at common law and subrogation provisions in insurance policies are common. Generally, an indemnity must have been provided before the insurer is entitled to subrogate. CICA has introduced certain restrictions on subroga-
tion rights in family and personal relationships and in employment contexts.
10. Insurtech 10.1 Insurtech Developments
Irish government bodies, such as Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority Ireland, work in tandem to attract and support foreign direct invest- ment in Ireland and promote Ireland as a destination for insurtech companies. In July 2021, 12 stakeholders in the Irish insurance sector joined together to create InsTech.ie, with the aim of promoting Ireland as an EU insurtech hub. Under the Department of Finance’s Finance Action Plan IFS 2025, InsTech.ie is tasked with building an insurtech hub in Ireland. Since 2022, the Irish insurtech cluster has more than doubled to more than 130 tech start-ups and scale-ups offering solutions to the insurance sector in Ireland and abroad. A study com- missioned by InsTech.ie and conducted by Deloitte, Driving Insurtech Growth in Ireland , was published in April 2021. It found that Ireland is “one of the most developed insurance markets” in Europe and is “well positioned to take advantage of the innovation and technological enhancements being developed within the sector as part of the growth of global insurtech”. An updated report, published in October 2024, found 86% of insurtechs were optimistic about the future of insurtech in Ireland in the next 12 months. One significant Irish insurtech firm is Blink, found- ed in 2016 to develop data-driven travel disruption insurance solutions. In 2020, the firm launched Blink Parametric, offering a full suite of parametric insur- ance solutions. Blink made it onto The Insurtech100 in 2019, 2020 and 2022, and featured in a spotlight position in InsTech.ie’s 2024 Irish Insurtech Report. In July 2023, Blink announced its intention to create 30 new jobs in Cork, effectively doubling its workforce by the end of 2025. In October 2024, Blink won the Best Parametric Insurance Product at the Global Insurtech Awards 2024. In 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, Companjon – an innovative insurtech start-up headquartered in Dub-
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