New rules around personal injury claims have to be implemented or they will make no difference, Supermacs owner Pat McDonagh has said.
The businessman was speaking as a bill, aimed at rebalancing the duty of care between businesses and the public, has been signed into law.
Mr McDonagh told The Hard Shoulder premiums are continuing to climb.
"As is the case with many business owners - especially in hospitality, restaurants and anything dealing with the public - it's a tremendous cost", he said.
"Anyone that is paying insurance premia will understand that the rates have gone up tremendously in the last couple of years as well.
"It's not just that, it's the amount of time you spend investigating it, challenging it and fighting it, etc.
"Obviously there are genuine claims and genuine accidents, and that's what insurance is there for, and nobody has an issue with that.
"It's the fraudulent claims, the exaggerated claims, and the claims that are kind of encouraged by some legal eagles in relation to them.
"That's where there's the issue".
'It will mean nothing'
Mr McDonagh has praised the work done so far, but said the amendments need to be enforced.
"With even the current situation - the Duty of Care amendment - that has been passed, unless that's implemented in the courts and implemented by the judiciary it will mean nothing," he said.
"It'll be the same thing as before which happened in the Civil Liability Act of 2004.
"Accidents were supposed to be notified within two months of the said accident, and in a lot of cases that didn't happen.
"It was allowed to go through the courts system and continue the claim.
"In one case there quite recently we had, the claim wasn't brought in until two weeks before the two-year time limit for it to be brought to our attention.
"It was still allowed to go through - so unless it's implemented, it's going to mean nothing," he added.
