Big freeze cost insurers €220m

Insurance companies paid out over €220 million in compensation claims related to December's arctic weather conditions.

Irish insurers dealt with almost 30,000 claims relating to damage to homes and businesses due to burst pipes, according to the Irish Insurance Federation.

Household claims cost €173.1 million, while commercial claims amounted to €50.6 million. The worst affected counties were Cork (€32.4 million), Galway (€24.7 million) and Dublin (€20.2 million)

The adverse weather conditions experienced across the country in December represented the third severe weather event to affect the country during a fourteen-month period, the IIF said.

IIF chief executive Mike Kemp said the quick response from insurers helped many homeowners and businesses in getting back on their feet as fast as possible.

"Severe weather events such as these have been very rare events in the past in Ireland. To have had the three largest weather-related losses in our history in such close succession has put pressure on the market, but insurers have repeatedly displayed their resilience and as a result have injected three-quarters of a billion euro back into the Irish economy in a 14-month period," he said.

The IIF is urging people to review their home and business situations in advance of next winter by taking precautions such as ensuring tanks in the attic are properly lagged and that exposed pipes are insulated.