FAQ

All companies underwriting motor insurance in Ireland must be members of MIBI, as provided for under Section 78 Road Traffic Act, 1961 and fund MIBI by means of payment of an annual levy contribution.

There is a once-off non-refundable application fee of €5,000 to be paid when the application for membership is submitted to member.services@mibi.ie . There is also an annual membership fee of €5,000 (this will be reduced pro-rata for the initial year of joining for members joining part-way through the year) and the MIBI levy which is based on your company’s prior year Gross Written Premium.  The membership fee will be allowed as a credit towards the levy in the same year

All companies underwriting motor insurance in Ireland must be members of MIBI, as provided for under Section 78 Road Traffic Act, 1961 and fund MIBI by means of payment of an annual levy contribution. The MIBI levy is based on the company’s prior year Gross Written Premium.  The membership fee will be allowed as a credit towards the levy in the same year.

Insurance Ireland operates a Declined Cases Agreement, which must be adhered to by all motor insurers in Ireland. This is a requirement of the Central Bank of Ireland under the General Good Requirements for Insurance Undertakings. More details here

The Council of Bureaux (CoB) is the organisation acting for the protection of cross-border road traffic victims by coordinating the activities of the Green Card System and the EU Motor Insurance Directives. www.cobx.org 

The MIBI act as Green Card Bureau in Ireland which ensures persons who sustain damage and/or injuries in a road traffic accident caused by a vehicle registered outside the State are not disadvantaged.  The Council of Bureaux Internal Regulations governs the investigation and settlement of such claims under the Green Card System.

Stimulated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the system was founded in 1949, on the basis of Recommendation No. 5 adopted by the Working Party on Road Transport of the Inland Transport Committee, in order to facilitate cross-border traffic. www.cobx.org 

The Green Card system is a protection mechanism for victims of cross-border road traffic accidents caused by foreign vehicles. 

It facilitates the flow of cross-border road traffic in Europe and ensures the compensation of victims of accidents caused by foreign motorists by guaranteeing sufficient third party liability to the latter. 

The system consists of 50 member countries represented by 46 Green Card Bureaux.

The Green Card system is conditioned upon the existence of:

A Green Card Bureau - established in each participating country
A Valid Green Card - issued by a Green Card Bureau of one of the participating countries.

The five EU Motor Insurance Directives (EU MID) were established in order to further enhance the protection system of road traffic victims within the European Economic Area (EEA). The MID was further amended on 24 November 2021 following the MID REFIT by EU Directive 2021/2118, and will be transposed into Members National Legislation over the next 18 to 24 months. Please click here for more details.

The Insurance Compensation Fund ("ICF"), is administered by the Central Bank of Ireland. In the case of third-party motor insurance claims, where an insurer is insolvent, the ICF will meet 100% of losses incurred.

However, the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 (the "2018 Act") also imposes a statutory obligation on the MIBI to establish, maintain and administer an ex-ante fund known as the Motor Insurers Insolvency Compensation Fund (the "MIIC Fund"), which is funded by mandatory contributions from its Members.  In the event of a future motor insurance insolvency the ICF are entitled to drawn down funds from the MIIC fund in accordance with the provisions of the 2018 Act. 

MIBI Members are required under the 2018 Act to submit a Declaration of all Motor Gross Written Premium (GWP) and pay a contribution of between 0% to 3% of GWP to the MIBI by 30 June each year.  The MIICF Contribution rate is set by the Minister of Finance each October and is currently 2% of GWP.
More details here

New (and existing) MIBI Members are required to upload certain motor policy information (for their customers) to a central insurance information database that is managed by the MIBI on behalf of the motor insurance industry. This requirement is set out in Section 78A of the Irish Road Traffic Act.
ANPR Database
Insurers are currently required to upload information to the existing “Automated Number Plate Recognition” (ANPR) database which records the: 

• Vehicle registration number 
• The name of the insurer 
• The policy effective dates

MTPL Database

The ANPR database is currently being replaced by the “Motor Third Party Liability” (MTPL) database and the existing NFD will be replaced by a new NFD.  These systems will be used to collect policy information from insurers and Fleet Owners & Motor Traders as specified in Section 78A of the Irish Road Traffic Act (RTA).   More details here
 

The purpose of the TRR is to protect consumers of insurance products by ensuring that existing policies can continue to be serviced after 31 December 2020. 

The UK withdrew from the EU on 31 January 2020 and entered an 11 month implementation period until 31 December 2020. During that time, EU law continued to apply to and in the UK but not thereafter. This means that UK and Gibraltar (GI) insurers and insurance intermediaries, who previously provided insurance products and services to Irish customers, can no longer, from 31 December 2020, avail of the European passport and must have put in place other arrangements, if they wished to continue to provide these products and services.  Recognising the potential impact on policyholders, where firms had not put in place alternative arrangements, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance worked together to establish a Temporary Run-Off Regime (TRR) for insurers and insurance intermediaries (including ancillary insurance intermediaries).  Read more here

In order to cease your membership please send us a brief email from an appropriately authorised individual confirming same to member.services@mibi.ie  The member must also advise the Insurance Supervision section of the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). 

Please note that as per the MIBI constitution article 10 any such Member ceasing to be a Member... 'shall nevertheless remain liable for its share (pro rata or otherwise) of all Levy obligations (including but not limited to the Levy obligations of a Member under Regulation 46.3) and all MIICF Contribution obligations arising prior to such cessation of membership and during that current year in which the cessation of membership takes effect.’

Should you wish to re-join the MIBI in the future, you will need to reapply, and go through the application process again which would include an application fee. 

1. What policies are included in All Motor GWP? Motor GWP incorporates all Class 10 together with all or any of classes 1(d), 3 and 7 policies that were incepted, renewed or where there were mid-term adjustments during the calendar year.

2. Does reinsurance business form part of All Motor GWP? No. Reinsurance business is not included as part of All Motor GWP.

3. If an insurer does not write any Class 10 business but does write Classes 1(d), 3 and 7, does the Insurer need to make a MIICF contribution? No, the insurer does not need to make a MIICF contribution. As stated in the Insurance Amendment Act 2018 the insurer needs to write class 10 together with all or any of classes 1(d), 3 and 7 in order to be required to make a MIICF contribution.

4. If All Motor GWP and Class 10 GWP in the calendar year were nil or a negative balance, then is an audit cert is required? No, If All Motor GWP and Class 10 GWP in the calendar year were nil or a negative balance then no audit cert is required.

5. If an insurer ceases to be a member of the MIBI, and stops writing motor business, are they still liable for the MIICF contribution? Yes, in accordance with Article 10 of the MIBI Constitution any such Member ceasing to be a Member of MIBI shall nevertheless remain liable for its MIICF Contribution obligations arising prior to such cessation of membership and during that current year in which the cessation of membership takes effect.

6.  If an insurer joins the MIBI as a new member, when are they liable to pay the MIICF contribution? A member is liable for its MIICF Contribution obligations arising from the date they start writing All Motor GWP in Ireland. i.e., If a member starts writing Irish All Motor GWP on 1 Jan 2022, then they are liable for a 2022 MIICF contribution which will then be collected in June 2023.

7. What is the MIICF contribution rate? The current MIICF contribution rate is 2%. The contribution rate will be subject to an annual review by the Minister of Finance, no later than the 31st of October each year, and may be varied between 0% and 3% depending on factors such as the amount held in the MIIC Fund and the likelihood of a call on the fund in line with the following parameters:

• 2% of gross written motor premiums until the MIIC Fund reaches €150 million

• Reducing to 1% until the MIIC Fund reaches €200 million

• Contributions to then be suspended (0%) until such time as there is a call on the fund

• In the event of a significant call on the MIIC Fund and there being insufficient monies in the fund, the contribution can be increased to the equivalent of 3% of gross written motor premiums until the fund reaches €50 million, after which time a contribution equivalent to 2% of gross written motor premiums will again apply

• The contribution rate cannot exceed 3% per annum

8. When does an insurer have to submit an audit certificate and declaration form? MIBI recommend that Members include the preparation of the combined MIICF All Motor GWP and Class 10 Audit Certificate within the scope of their statutory audit. The combined Audit Certificate should be submitted to MIBI no later than the 7^th of April each year.

9. When is the MIICF contribution due for payment? The final deadline for payment of the MIICF contribution in accordance with the Insurance Amendment Act 2018 is 30th June. MIBI advise that Members should make the payment prior to 30^th of June to allow for any delays in payment processing.

10. When is the Report submitted to the Minister of Finance? In accordance with the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 the Report to the Minister for Finance is submitted no later than 31^st July.

11. What is the penalty if a member fails to make a MIICF contribution? Section 3H (Failure to make contribution to MIIC Fund) of the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 outlines the responsibility on the MIBI to collect the contribution from its Members as a contract debt through the courts in accordance with Section 3H(1) of 2018 Act and refer any failures of a vehicle insurer to make a contribution to the Central Bank of Ireland for appropriate action. This could include preventing the vehicle insurer from issuing any policies as set out under Section 3H(6), and/or be guilty of an offence which is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment of up to 5 years or both, as set out under Section 3I of the 2018 Act.

1. How is a Member’s levy amount calculated? The levies to be called are based on projections of claims payments, together with expected expenses, in the following year as calculated by external actuaries. The Board of Directors approve the high-level indicative levies for the following 3 years, to assist Members in multi-year budgeting and planning, at the July Board Meeting each year. A Letter is circulated to the Members prior to the end of July with these indicative numbers. The MIBI Finance Committee review the Levy projections at their September meeting and final confirmation of the levy is issued to the Members in September each year, following approval at the September Board meeting.

The amount of levy to be called from each Member is calculated in accordance with the Member’s market share of Class 10 GWP. MIBI pro-rates the Members’ market share of Class 10 GWP against the total levy call for the year as approved by the Board, i.e., if a member has a 10% market share of class 10 GWP they contribute 10% of the MIBI levies. This is then divided by 12 and a levy call is collected from Members on the 1st day of every month via direct debit.

2. How are the levy amounts collected? A levy call is collected from Members on the 1st day of every month via standing order.
3. When is the levy adjustment calculated and paid/refunded? Members are required to provide MIBI with an Audit Certificate from their external auditors stating the Class 10 GWP they have written in the previous financial year. MIBI use the audit certificates to calculate each Member’s market share of Class 10 and hence their levy allocation in any one year. Initially, the Class 10 GWP is used for the levy allocation and member share calculations are based on the most recently available audited Class 10 GWP figures, (e.g. for levy calls made during 2022, initially 2020 audited Class 10 GWP will be used). Once MIBI receive up to date audit certificates from its Members, a Levy Adjustment calculation is undertaken (e.g. for the 2022 Levy Adjustment, MIBI will use Members’ 2021 audited Class 10 figures). Effectively, this is a re-allocation of levy called during the year since it is based on more up to date market share information. The levy adjustment is calculated in December once the December levy payments have been received by MIBI (usually first week of December). Levy adjustment amounts are refunded to Members prior to year-end. The levy adjustment amounts owed are required to be paid by Members prior to 31 December each year.
4. Is there an annual membership fee payable to MIBI? Yes, a Member’s annual membership subscription fee is €5,000.  This membership fee will be offset against their levy charge payable (if applicable). Where the full €5,000 membership subscription is not used to offset against their levy allocation during the year, a member will not be reimbursed any unused portion of the subscription.
5. What is the contingency fund? The contingency fund is an additional working capital cash buffer over and above the best estimate projection of annual payments and our day to day working capital. To prevent additional levy calls on the Members, i.e., beyond those communicated in September of the prior year, if claims payments for a given year exceed the projected levy, the MIBI will utilise the contingency fund / working capital to reimburse the additional claims payments.

The Finance Committee review the level of the contingency fund every year in conjunction with the report from the consulting external actuaries. The Finance Committee recommend the level of contingency fund / additional working capital to be held by MIBI to the Board. The Board will ultimately approve amount of contingency funds / working capital to be held. The contingency fund will then be built back up accordingly.

6. What happens if there is a surplus or shortfall in the contingency fund? If there is any excess amount in the contingency fund over and above a 1 in 20-year event there will be a refund made to Members e.g., if the fund holds €25m and the cost of a 1 in 20-year event is €20m, €5m will be refunded to the Members. If the contingency fund is below the recommended 1 in 20-year event level then the fund will be built back up over a two-year period, e.g., if the fund holds €10m and the cost of a 1 in 20-year event is €20m, an additional €10m needs to be added to levies over two years (€5m per year). In the event that the contingency fund is more than 75% depleted the Board (at the September meeting) will consider and agree the appropriate timeframe to fully replenish the contingency fund.
7.  If an insurer ceases to be a member of the MIBI, are they still liable for the MIBI Levy? In accordance with Article 10 of the MIBI Constitution any such Member ceasing to be a Member shall nevertheless remain liable for its share (pro rata or otherwise) of all Levy obligations (including but not limited to the Levy obligations of a Member under Regulation 46.3) arising prior to such cessation of membership and during that current year in which the cessation of membership takes effect.
8. When a new member joins the MIBI, when are they liable to pay the MIBI Levy? A new member will not have levy payments in the first year of joining the MIBI. The member is required to provide an audit certificate in April of year 2. Then in December of year 2 a levy adjustment exercise will be performed and if Class 10 GWP Audit Cert received in April has a balance greater than nil, the member will have to make a payment to the MIBI. The member will then begin making monthly levy payments in January of year 3 based on their Class 10 GWP market share.