INSURANCE:INSURANCE COMPANIES say the cost of meeting claims from the current flooding will easily exceed the €98 million paid out after similar weather in August 2008.
The country’s largest insurer, Hibernian Aviva, said it received a significant number of calls on Saturday, most of them relating to flood damage.
The company rostered 20 extra staff at the weekend to deal with the upsurge in claims inquiries and says extra staff are being assigned to claims assessment work to deal with claims as quickly as possible.
On Friday alone, it received 1,042 claims-related calls, compared to a usual weekly total of about 1,000. Insurance sources say it is too early to say how much the flooding will cost the industry but expectations are that it will be “north of €100 million”. This is equivalent to the estimated bill UK insurers face as a result of flooding there in the past week.
According to the Irish Insurance Federation, it will be at least three weeks before the cost of the bad weather can be properly assessed. Sources also indicate it is too early to say what effect current conditions will have on future premiums.