LESS THAN 800 claims totalling €357,000 were made to a €10 million emergency assistance fund the government established in the wake of the severe flooding which struck parts of the east coast in October.
Two people died, garda Ciarán Jones and nurse Celia Ferrer de Jesus, and serious damage was caused in the flooding on 24 October.
In the weeks following the flooding, insurers estimated that the bill would reach €100 million.
The government announced a €10 million assistance fund in early November to help people whose homes were seriously affected by the flooding and who urgently needed help in accessing basic supplies such as food and clothing.
According to the Department of Social Protection, which administered the fund, 745 claims were made totalling €357,000 between the end of October and 31 December 2011.
The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) said today that the flooding caused “significant destruction during a very short time frame”.
The IIF’s non-life manager Michael Horan says that 6,703 insurance customers were affected by the flooding. Horan added that “action needs to be taken now” to protect those areas where the threat of flooding has been highlighted.
The total cost of insurance claims has hit €127 million.
Of that amount, 3,542 household claims were made to the tune of €58 million. Commercial property claims – all 1,251 of them – reached €59 million, while 1,920 motor claims were made totalling €10 million.
The IIF says that the January 2010 freeze remains the single most expensive weather-related event in Ireland for insurers.
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