Insurance in Ireland
Moderators: Josh, independent guy
Insurance in Ireland
From the standpoint of an insurance professional...does anyone know how much different it is to work in insurance in Ireland compared to the US? ie....do they use similar policy contract forms, similar laws, underwriting philosophies and customer service methods, etc..? Basically, what's the learning curve? Any differences or links to resources on the internet that anyone might know of would be helpful.
What sort of insurance business are you thinking about? Life/non-life/international/domestic/etc? There's a strong domestic market in Ireland and a strong international market, so quite a lot of choice. The Financial Regulator's website http://www.financialregulator.ie has information about minimum competency standards, though these are generally for consumer-facing roles. The Insurance Institute of Ireland administers training and education programs for these requirements, as well as higher level qualifications. If you post a bit more detail, I'll try to provide some more substantial information. Alternatively, let me know if you'd prefer to go offline on this.
I was primarily thinking of Property/Casualty-Commercial: Auto, General Liability(Public Liability they call it?), etc. Some of the overall coverage line names appear similar but the exclusions and actual policy lines that certain specific coverages fall under could be totally different.
One thing that I seemed to notice from looking at insurance related sites is that Ireland apparently doesn't have Worker's Comp like in the US, with statutory scheduled benefits, apparently you have to sue your employer for your injuries? That's one major difference right there, if I was viewing it correctly.
One thing that I seemed to notice from looking at insurance related sites is that Ireland apparently doesn't have Worker's Comp like in the US, with statutory scheduled benefits, apparently you have to sue your employer for your injuries? That's one major difference right there, if I was viewing it correctly.
There tend to be differences between US and European coverages, and then between insurance products in different European countries. For example, employers' liability (the equivalent of worker's comp in the US) is mandatory in the UK but not in Ireland, as you have identified. Generally, though, the system here is very similar to the UK, with the supporting insurance law operating in a very similar way, and many of the product lines and policy wordings will reflect that.