Thousands of Irish drivers are due refunds from 123.ie after it mistakenly overcharged customers.

Some 8,000 people were charged more than they owed following a technical error related to vehicle history information.

This was confirmed to the Irish Examiner, the paper says that the average refund will be €80 plus compensation of 5%.

Letters have been sent to the affected customers.

123.ie, which is owned by RSA and which has 175,000 motor insurance customers, said it had informed the Central Bank of the error when it was discovered last Autumn.

It said it had reviewed its controls to ensure there was no repeat of the mistake.

A spokesperson commented on the error, saying, "123.ie can confirm that it is currently refunding customers to correct a charging error that affected some motor premiums. The error related to some of the vehicle history information, it was technical in nature and the company has taken steps to ensure it doesn’t recur."