Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The Covid-19 pandemic has up-ended many areas of our lives. In normal circumstances, buying a home can often be a complex and stressful process. However, Covid-19 has made the purchase of a new home especially difficult for people with underlying health conditions. That is because individuals with underlying health conditions are finding it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to access certain types of insurance cover during this pandemic.

A case from my constituency of Dublin North-West illustrates the obstacles that are now being placed in front of people who have underlying health conditions who are trying to access mortgage protection and life insurance. A young professional couple with two young children, who have struggled to get themselves onto the property ladder, have been denied mortgage protection because the otherwise young, fit and healthy husband was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It has taken them years of great patience, hard work and sacrifice for them to reach a point where they are in a position to purchase a house. Having successfully secured mortgage approval, they entered a highly competitive housing market. They managed to get a sale agreed on a home suitable for their family, but in the process they had to extend and stretch their savings to a point where there will not be any money left over for essential refurbishment. Having gone through so much to secure a house, it came as a shock to them to find that every major insurer in the country would not provide mortgage protection cover to them because the husband had been diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. It is clear that while Covid remains an issue, the insurance companies would either defer or decline cover for them.

Their case is not unique and it is becoming apparent that many people are having their house purchase fall through because they cannot get mortgage protection due to the pandemic. What all of these people have in common is that they have a variety of underlying conditions, which previously would not have precluded them from obtaining mortgage protection insurance. The family in question contacted numerous insurance brokers in an attempt to get mortgage protection. However, it was made clear to them that there was little or no hope of them getting cover during the current pandemic. It appears that the re-insurance companies have instructed the underwriters of the insurance not to accept an individual who rates above a certain level on the underwriting tables due to Covid. The result is that individuals with an underlying illness are rating above the new lower level. The husband in the case I outlined was clearly insurable pre-Covid, as he is no less healthy than he was before Covid but he is being denied cover because of his underlying condition in this pandemic.

The whole process has been exhausting for the family. The denial and deferral of cover, with no light at the end of the tunnel, is disheartening and depressing, especially for those families who have worked so hard and have overcome so many hurdles and obstacles to get to this point, only to see their dreams shattered when they are almost at the finishing line. Insurance companies have a duty to be fair to the consumer under the consumer protection code. This case clearly shows they are not being fair to this family and in fact are discriminating against the individual in question and his family. Will the Minister of State commit to engaging with the Insurance Ireland to end this discriminatory practice?

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ellis for raising the issue, which is obviously a very difficult one for the family concerned that wanted to purchase their own home. While I have an appreciation of the difficulties individuals may find themselves in as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, neither I, the Minister for Finance, nor the Central Bank of Ireland can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products nor do we have the power to direct insurance companies to provide cover to specific individuals or businesses. This position is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance, which prohibits member states from doing so. Consequently, unfortunately, I cannot direct insurance companies as to how they price their policies or what terms and conditions they apply to those policies.

It is my understanding that insurers use a combination of rating factors in making their individual decisions on whether to offer life insurance, such as mortgage protection cover, and what terms to apply. These factors can include age, health, family medical history, occupation and lifestyle. In addition, these may be determined or linked to the policy duration and whether the policy is for ten, 15, 20 or 25 years. In the case of mortgage protection policies, these tend to be over the lifetime of the mortgage repayment schedule. In addition, my understanding is that different insurers do not use the same combination of rating factors. Accordingly, price and availability of cover varies across the market, and policies are priced in accordance with each firm's prior claims experience.

My officials contacted Insurance Ireland, the representative body for such providers in Ireland, on this issue recently. It stated that while some customers are still able to get life, critical illness or mortgage protection insurance at this challenging time, it is aware of a small number of individual cases where a final decision on some life insurance applications is being postponed for a period where applicants have an underlying health condition. That essentially confirms what the Deputy outlined, that there is a small number of such cases. Insurance Ireland, the representative body of the insurance industry, has confirmed that. However, it stated that while unaware of any cases where life cover has been denied as a result of Covid, such policies are assessed on a case-by-case basis and that underlying health conditions will be taken into account by the underwriters, as was the case pre-Covid-19. It does appear that there are delays occurring for people who otherwise would have got mortgage protection previously, but because of Covid the insurers are being exceptionally careful and overly prudent in the cover they now offer.

I can understand the difficulties the Deputy has highlighted. It means that a person who probably had mortgage approval in principle before Covid came along, who had a certain amount of money and felt they would be able to proceed, but the delay could in all probability mean they might not be able to get a house because the vendor might have moved on to somebody else who did not have a problem getting a mortgage. I hope that after the Covid restrictions the family that was entitled to it will be able to get mortgage cover far more easily. I accept the delay due to Covid could affect the purchase, as the house in question might not still be on the market when the situation hopefully improves early in the new year. I understand the difficulty because of Covid, and the unknown period involved. Depending on the employment situation of individuals, it is causing a problem during this period which did not exist previously. I hope once Covid is under control that things will get back to normal and those people will be able to get back on the housing market next year, albeit not perhaps to buy the house they were looking at earlier this year.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his contribution, but he must use his influence. I accept he cannot interfere in the insurance market, but his influence is very important. I do not think it is acceptable at all to say that things can be delayed, because that effectively means the person has lost their house, and to wish them luck and tell them they must search again.

The Minister of State knows the stress on the people looking for houses and the competition out there. It is just not good enough to say there is a delay because of Covid-19. Why is Covid-19 influencing this matter? In the past people were able to get mortgages who had type 1 diabetes and because of Covid-19, there is a delay for them. That is totally unacceptable.

If the Minister of State used his own moral compass to judge this, he would come to the same conclusion that this is not acceptable and should not be allowed. There are many more other examples and I have just mentioned one couple. There is no doubt that this bad practice is going on but it should not be allowed. People are punished enough and have many problems in life so they should not be penalised even further.

These people pay more now to rent a home than they would if they had a mortgage. This has put huge strain on the family in question and their resources. If the process is delayed and they lose the property, they will be under further strain and may be subject to price increases. The house they had in mind might be gone. It is just not good enough and the federation should be more sympathetic to people in these positions and not impose such rules. It is an absolute scandal that it is allowed to use Covid-19 as an excuse.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ellis for his remarks. There are some cases where a person getting a mortgage for a house may not require life cover but that does not apply in this case. In some cases it may be purchased with a higher cost.

I met representatives of Insurance Ireland today and raised this matter. The meeting was nicely timed because I had notice of the Deputy's matter. They told me there can be difficulties. There is no commitment but I suggest the Deputy or the people on whose behalf he speaks might contact Insurance Ireland directly as it might be able to help in looking around the market and find a company that the brokers did not come across. That is not to make any commitment but Insurance Ireland is aware of this issue in a very small number of cases. It is worth double-checking with the body whose representatives I met today.

If all else fails, the Deputy should know that if somebody feels aggrieved or feels they have been treated unfairly by a particular insurance provider, there is an option to make a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, who acts as an independent arbitrator of disputes consumers may have with an insurance company or other financial services provider. That is also an option.

I know this takes time and it is not easy for the family involved. The only two suggestions I can make are to contact the ombudsman or Insurance Ireland directly. They may be able to help but these are the only avenues I can suggest because the Minister for Finance cannot direct individual insurance companies to issue particular policies to individual people. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and I hope that in due course things will come right for the family.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State and the Deputy for discussing that important matter and particularly the Minister of State for his positive response. The second matter is also very important.