FAQs about the National Claims Information Database

The National Claims Information Database (NCID) is a repository that stores of information on the cost of non-life insurance claims. The Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for collecting the information and managing the NCID under the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Act 2018. Aggregate data is collected from insurers, including premiums and claims data. This allows the Central Bank to publish an annual report containing analysis of the cost of claims, the cost of premiums, how claims are settled, how settlement costs vary depending on how claims are settled, and an analysis of the various types of cost that make up settlements.

The purpose of the NCID is to improve transparency around the cost of settling claims, and the impact this has on the cost of insurance. It achieves this by storing claims data at a greater level of detail than in the past. This enables better analysis and improved decision-making in relation to the cost of insurance.

The NCID stores aggregate data from insurers, including premium, policy and claims data. This allows the Central Bank to publish an annual report containing analysis of the cost of claims, how settlement costs vary depending on how claims are settled, and an analysis of the various types of cost that make up settlements.

No. The NCID is not designed to be a publicly accessible claim-by-claim level database.

No. The NCID does not contain any personally identifiable data on claimants or policyholders.

Private motor insurance was identified as the first class of insurance data to be included in the NCID. Employers’ Liability, Public Liability and Commercial Property Insurance was subsequently added as the second class of insurance data, with data collection started in Q4 2020. The scope of the data collected on the NCID can be widened and additional types of insurance can be added in due course.

The Central Bank has published three annual reports encompassing NCID data, two focused on private motor insurance and one focused on Employers’ Liability, Public Liability and Commercial Property Insurance. The Central Bank will publish an annual report on private motor insurance and an annual report on liability insurance.

The Cost of Insurance Working Group set up a Data Sub-group to develop the specification of the data to be collected by the NCID. The Sub-group was made up of representatives from the Department of Finance, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, the State Claims Agency, the Central Statistics Office, and the Society of Actuaries in Ireland.

The Department of Finance launched a public consultation on the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Bill in February 2018. The Data Sub-group considered responses to the public consultation, and any other views received from stakeholders, before the data specification was finalised and approved.

No. The purpose of the NCID is to improve transparency around the cost of settling claims, and the impact this has on the cost of insurance. The Cost of Insurance Working Group made a separate recommendation that a fully functioning integrated Insurance Fraud Database should be established for industry to detect fraudulent claims. This recommendation is being developed by the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, the Motor Insurer’s Bureau of Ireland, and Insurance Ireland.

Any insurance firm providing insurance services in the Republic of Ireland for in-scope classes of non-life insurance is obliged to submit data to the NCID. This includes firms providing insurance services domestically or on a Freedom of Establishment basis from within Ireland, as well as firms providing insurance on a Freedom of Services basis who are “passporting” in from outside Ireland.

Information on the submission requirements and reporting templates for Private Motor Insurance and Employers’ Liability and Public Liability Insurance can be found on the respective webpages.

Find further information on the work of the Cost of Insurance Working Group.