With an estimated 6,000 people quitting private health insurance every month as they struggle to keep up payments, the timing of a new arrival in the Irish market is questionable.

Home insurance costs fell 16% last year as cash-strapped consumers reassess their insurance needs to ensure they are not paying over the odds.

INSURERS are restricting the number of homes they are offering flood cover to as the industry paid out in Europe €1 billion in the last 14 months on weather-related incidents.