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The continued flooding nationwide has put the onus on insurance companies to reenter the market with urgency, in areas where flood prevention works have been put in place. Photo: Jim Lysaght

Finance Minister Michael Noonan's stern warning to the insurance industry recently that it must be prepared to go back in again to flood-prone areas as soon as flood defence works are completed, didn't go unnoticed in Fermoy.

The flood relief works are due to be completed this April. The Finance Minister said he didn't want any big gap between flood defences going in and the insurance companies going back into such places. Using Cork as an example of where millions have been spent on such works, he said insurers should offer cover once the defences are in place.

In response, the representative body for insurance companies, Insurance Ireland, said it expects to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the OPW in the coming weeks which will, for the first time, see the OPW sharing flood defence data with Insurance Ireland, so that insurance companies can take the data into account when assessing flood risk.

URGENTLY ADDRESSED

This week Sinn Fein councillor, Seamus Coleman stressed the importance of areas like Fermoy and Mallow who have received flood protection in recent years having their status changed to reflect the new conditions and to be viewed therefore as at a lower risk of flooding. "While the barriers are manmade, this should not impede the provision of reasonably priced insurance cover," he said.

The provision of flood cover insurance generally is a situation that the government needs to address without delay, Cllr. Coleman added. "The changing weather conditions have left a lot of people in a very vulnerable position and the insurance companies have been far from accommodating. A new scheme needs to be put in place where those who are unable to get flood cover should be allowed claim from a central fund, similar to that in the motor industry, which is funded by a small levy across the whole system," he outlined.

"The insurance industry and government have to adapt and give business and homeowners peace of mind when it comes to the risk of flooding and any other weather related damage."

Insurance Ireland put the cost of storm and flood damage for December and January alone at €46m and that was before more inclement weather in February, culminating in last week's Storm Darwin.

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