Sir, – Insurers in Ireland refuse to cover premises that have been subject to flooding in the past.
This means the taxpayer is on the hook to pay the increasing cost and frequency of flood compensation claims.
When insurers in California refused to cover earthquake claims following a devastating earthquake in 1994, the state government stepped in to make it mandatory on insurance companies to offer earthquake cover to all households. The state set up the California Earthquake Authority in 1996, which is publicly managed but privately funded by 22 insurance companies. It now has one million policyholders and hold s two- thirds of the earthquake insurance market.
Maybe it is about time the Government here intervenes in the flood insurance market. – Yours, etc,
‘My son is in his 20s, but still lives like a teenager – staying in his room playing video games’
Róisín Ingle: I’ve had to rethink my long-held antipathy to self-service checkouts
‘My son is getting married in the summer, and the likelihood is that I’m going to be able to see that’
Oscars 2026: Will Hamnet with Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley get a best picture nomination?
ALAN MCCARTHY,
Dublin 6.
