Written answers

Thursday, 7 May 2015

Department of Finance

Insurance Coverage

Photo of Eric ByrneEric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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56. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide an explanation of the way an insurance company can suddenly deem an area to be a flood area without notice, and subsequently refuse to make home insurance cover available; the way the said insurance company can also refuse to provide cover for home contents, as well as risks including fire, theft, and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17983/15]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The provision of flood cover is a commercial matter for insurance companies, which is based on an assessment of the risks they are accepting and the need to make adequate provisioning to meet these risks. As a matter of course, insurance companies carry out reviews of the risks against which they are prepared to insure and sometimes make decisions to discontinue certain types of cover which they consider high risk. Insurance Ireland has indicated that 98% of policyholders have household insurance which includes flood cover.

In order to help those who have been affected by flooding, Government policy aims to address the underlying problem through appropriate remedial works where this is economically feasible. The Office of Public Works is committed to alleviating the impact of flooding through the provision of defences as well as a comprehensive assessment of flood risk throughout the country and development of flood risk management plans for the areas most at risk under the National Catchment Flood Risk Assessment & Management (CFRAM) Programme.  This commitment is underpinned by a significant capital works investment programme on flood relief measures. Works are completed on a prioritised basis. Once these works are completed the availability of flood insurance in affected areas would be expected to increase.

The OPW and Insurance Ireland have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding on a sustainable system of information sharing in relation to completed flood alleviation schemes.  The outcome of this arrangement, which came into effect in June 2014, is that the insurance industry will have a much greater level of information and understanding of the extent of the protection provided by completed OPW flood defence works and will therefore be in a position to reflect this in assessing the provision of flood insurance to householders in areas where works have been completed. The arrangements set out in the Memorandum represent an ongoing process which, over time, should lead to an improvement in the availability of flood insurance cover.

The OPW and the Department of Finance will continue contact with Insurance Ireland to review the operation of the Memorandum of Understanding.

In cases where individuals are experiencing difficulty in obtaining flood insurance and believe that they are being treated unfairly it is open to them to contact Insurance Ireland which operates a free Insurance Information Service for those who have queries, complaints or difficulties in relation to insurance. Their service can be contacted at (01) 6761914 or by email at

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