Committee To Discuss Difficulties In Getting Insurance In Flood Risk areas

The Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht will discuss the difficulties obtaining home insurance in areas which have experienced extreme weather events, such as flooding, with Michael Kemp, chief executive of the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) at its meeting today, Tuesday, 25th September.

Committee Cathaoirleach Ciarán Lynch TD said: "Over the past number of years, a number of areas in the country have experienced extreme and increasingly frequent weather events, particularly flooding. For many communities and families, the trauma caused by flooding continues as they are now facing insurance problems. As well as facing the costs of repairing damage to their properties and replacing destroyed contents, there is the further problem of having the region in which they live categorised as a high flood risk area.


"Similar difficulties seem to arise in regions where there is a history of subsidence. This leaves many people struggling to obtain full home insurance. The lack of full insurance cover not only leaves householders at the mercy of weather events, it also severely impacts on the value of their properties, in some cases leaving them worthless as they cannot be sold due to the absence of obtaining full insurance cover.

"Today, we will have an opportunity to address this subject with Mike Kemp, chief executive of the Irish Insurance Federation. Members will be keen to find out what the IIF is doing for householders and communities, who through no fault of their own, are in areas now prone to flooding. We will want to know if the insurance industry has a strategy to deal with the financial consequences of flooding if regular flood damage occurs in certain areas and a policy for dealing with people living in these areas."