Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the response; it is appreciated. As he stated, the insurance industry representatives will make themselves available to discuss this matter with the Department. However, home owners such as those who contacted me in recent weeks are unable to shop around for insurance, as most consumers do when their renewal comes up. A lady who contacted me yesterday evening was in a position to save over €500 on her home insurance policy but was unable to move to that insurance company because when she rightfully divulged that her property had pyrite in the past but had been repaired, the insurance company said it was sorry but it does not insure properties which have or have had pyrite. That is unacceptable because in most if not all home insurance policy clauses there is a specific clause which relates to the usage of faulty materials, faulty workmanship, a faulty design, etc. In other words, the insurance companies are already protected and therefore they are actively discriminating, and it is interesting that the previous Topical Issues matter was on the subject of discrimination. This is another form of discrimination by a body corporate against home owners, private individuals who are unable to shop around and get a proper insurance quote. In some instances they are unable to get any insurance. It must be remembered that there is no obligation to have home insurance, but it is important that people have it.

Notwithstanding that the terms and conditions already exclude pyrite related issues in properties, I presume the insurance companies are worried about the administrative cost of turning down pyrite related claims. There are 12,500 homes allegedly affected by this-----

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