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David Ward MP <>
David demands Parliamentary debate on insurance costs
October 19, 2011 11:17 AM
David secures Parliamentary debate on insurance costs
David Ward MP has successfully backed a call for a Parliamentary debate on soaring insurance costs in Bradford and across the country.
Parliament's Backbench Business Committee said that the case that had been made for the debate was one of the strongest they had ever heard and agreed that time would be given for a debate.
The motion, tabled by the House of Commons influential Transport Select Committee and backed by David Ward, expresses concern of large recent increases in insurance costs and says that "more could be done" by the Government to tackle this issue.
Commenting, David said:
"We urgently need a debate on this issue. At a time when every household and every business is seeing their budget squeezed, sky high insurance costs are literally forcing people off the road and putting livelihoods at risk.
"This is a particular problem in Bradford, but we are not alone. There are many other parts of the country which are being penalised with excessively high premiums. And all MPs will have constituents who have suffered as a result of rising insurance costs this year.
"We need to get people from all Parties together to give a strong message to the Government that things can't go on like this. They are starting to get the message with the ban on referral fees and a new insurance fraud unit. Hopefully this debate will move us a few steps closer toward finding lasting solutions to this problem."
The motion to be debated reads as follows:
"That this House expresses concern over the large increase in the cost of motor insurance in recent years, including in relation to young drivers; welcomes the report by the Transport Committee on the cost of motor insurance (HC 591) and its continuing inquiry into the reasons for this increase; notes that factors explaining the cost of motor insurance include the number and cost of personal injury claims arising from road accidents, assessment of risk, fraud, and uninsured driving; notes that the Government has taken some steps to deal with these issues, including announcing a ban on referral fees in personal injury cases, but that more could be done; further notes that ministerial responsibility for these issues is split across several departments; calls on the Government to establish a cross-departmental ministerial committee on reducing the cost of motor insurance and to publish a plan for dealing with the different aspects of this problem during this Parliament."
The date on which the debate will be held is yet to be announced.