A NEW survey has shown that it is impossible for some Southside homeowners to get insurance cover for flood damage.
Deputy Kevin Humphreys (Lab) conducted a survey of over 1,000 households recently regarding their flood insurance cover in the Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount areas along the Dodder River.
He said the results also reveal how the premiums of some householders have increased by up to 50 per cent because their homes are located in what the insurance companies consider a high flood risk area.
This is despite investment by the Office of Public Works of over e8.5 million in the last four years on flood defences along the Dodder to prevent tidal and river flooding.
There have been several major flooding incidents along the River Dodder in recent years.
Last October scores of residents in Dodder View and the Herbert Cottages in Ballsbridge had to be evacuated from their homes when the river burst its banks, leaving some houses in up to six feet of water.
Kevin Berney, who lives on Londonbridge Road in Sandymount, told Southside People that his home, which was built in 1896, has never been flooded.
He said he bought separate home insurance policies from two well-known companies over the last three years but both have refused to include flood cover.
Mr Berney said that one insurance company, with whom he had an insurance policy for many years, discontinued the flooding cover on his home insurance policy in 2010.
“They discontinued our insurance cover so I went to an insurance brokers then,
? he said.
“I ended up with another company but they wouldn’t insure it for floods either.
“The insurance company just told me that the house was a risk for flood danger. I thought it was very unfair. Other people in the area have succeeded in getting cover but at very high costs.
?
Deputy Humphreys raised the issue with the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) on Tuesday, September 25, at an Oireachtas Environment Committee hearing.
He noted that a representative of the IIF told the Oireachtas committee that most householders had no difficulty in securing flood insurance for their homes and that just two per cent of policies nationally are excluded from flood cover.
However, he said that the experience of householders within his constituency was very different.
“It’s even at the stage where people are well above sea level but because they fall within this area they are now not getting insurance cover,
? he said.
“You are talking about 1,500 to 1,600 homes being affected. This is within an area that spreads from Sandymount to Ringsend and even into Pearse Street because they have been geo-mapped [by insurance companies] as a flood risk area.
?
Michael Horan, Non-Life manager at the IIF, said the number of people who have flood cover in Ireland was very high by international standards.
“When assessing risks insurance companies analyse the history of the property and they also analyse any flood prevention measures implemented by the Office of Public Works or the local authority in an area,
? he said.
“Some people will pay a higher premium because the flood risk is higher and some people will have a higher excess on the policy.
?
He added:
“Exclusion of cover is generally a last resort and usually only arises where it is overwhelmingly likely that future flood losses are inevitable.
?