Information on the Insurance Compensation Fund

NOTICE - Pursuant to Section 6 of the Insurance Act, 1964

Central Bank of Ireland hereby gives notice for the purposes of Section 6 (2) of the Insurance Act 1964 (as amended by the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2011) (the Act) and the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 that, having formed the opinion pursuant to section 6(1) of the Act that the financial state of the Insurance Compensation Fund (the Fund) is such that financial support should be provided for it. The Central Bank has, pursuant to section 6(1) of the Act and following the completion our annual review of the state of the Fund for 2025, determined that the appropriate contribution to be paid to the Fund by each insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State will reduce from 2% to 1% of the aggregate of the gross premiums paid to that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State in respect of policies issued in respect of relevant risks in the State. 

Pursuant to section 6 (2) (a) of the Act, the date on and after which each insurer and insurer authorised in another Member State shall be obliged to pay the 1% contribution, and being for the purposes of this notice the “effective date” within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition of “effective date” in section 6(14) of the Act is: 1 January 2026. A 2% contribution continues to apply to any gross premiums paid to that insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State in respect of premiums received in respect of relevant risks in the State prior to 1 January 2026.

Although this is an industry contribution, the Central Bank is aware some firms explicitly pass the charge to policyholders.  If your company is passing this change to policyholders and listing it as a separate charge to be borne by the policyholder in the policyholder documentation issued, then any reduction in the levy should immediately be passed to the policyholder. Policyholder documentation should also be updated as necessary to reflect the new levy. Companies should not collect levies from policyholders at a rate higher than is applicable when the premium is being received.

Pursuant to section 6(13)(a) of the Act, the Minister for Finance has, by order dated 7 October 2011, appointed the Revenue Commissioners as the collector. Therefore, insurers or insurers authorised in another Member State shall:

1. File an electronic statement via Revenue ROS platform showing the aggregate gross premiums paid in that quarter by the holders of policies that the insurer or insurer authorised in another Member State issued in respect of risks in the State; and
2. Pay to the collector the appropriate contribution calculated within the timeframe specified in section 125(2) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999. Accordingly, the first statement and contribution should be delivered by no later than 30 April 2012.

For information provided by the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the Insurance Compensation Fund, please see the Revenue Commissioners website:

• English language version
• Irish language version