In the last 10 days Hibernian insurance has agreed payment on almost 500 claims resulting from recent flooding in counties Dublin, Meath and Cork.
In the last 10 days Hibernian insurance has agreed payment on almost 500 claims resulting from recent flooding in counties Dublin, Meath and Cork. This is five times the number of flood claims that Hibernian would normally expect during the same period in an average year, and the company is predicting that some homes and business premises may become uninsurable if immediate action is not taken by the relevant authorities.
Hibernian’s director of underwriting Dick O’Driscoll said: "In the past two weeks Hibernian has paid out more in flood damage claims* than we would normally pay over four or five years - this is simply not sustainable and we are calling on the government to take action now to prevent a situation developing similar to what happened in the UK where whole areas were deemed uninsurable and home owners faced the prospect of owning a property that was virtually worthless**”.
Hibernian’s Express Claims service has been operating a 24- hour telephone hotline at its claims service centre in Galway in order to deal with the thousands of customer inquiries it has been receiving.
Dick O’Driscoll said: “We have staff working round the clock to help our customers deal with their claims. Speed is very important in these situations and in the majority of cases we have had loss adjusters on site within 24 hours of the flooding. But quite frankly if this pattern continues things are going to get difficult. If flooding becomes a ‘sure thing’ in an area then insurance becomes no more than a maintenance contract, something our reinsurers would never support. If we know where the flood problems are and what’s causing them then the government must act now to address these problems.”
Hibernian is supporting the Irish Insurance Federation’s call on the government to establish a national flood defence agency to oversee all flood management, in particular to evaluate planning applications for new housing from a flooding perspective and to strengthen of flood defences in current blackspot areas.
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*It will be some time before the full cost is known but it is estimated that Hibernian will pay out €12-15 million in claims for November floods alone. (Hibernian insures one in five Irish households, one in four small businesses and one in three private cars).
**The UK government has just announced a stgŁ150 million package to develop adequate flood defences in at risk areas
Press contact:
Kela O’Riordan, 01 617 8164, 086 606 8842, kela.oriordan@hibernian.ie
Notes to editors:
- Hibernian is part of the Aviva plc, one of the top five life companies in Europe, and seventh globally (based on gross worldwide premiums)
- Hibernian is Ireland’s largest composite insurer, ranked first for general insurance and top five for life and pensions
- A photograph of Dick O’Driscoll is available by ISDN
- Hibernian news releases are also available on www.hibernian.ie