House insurance bills expected to rise

HOME insurance costs for householders are expected to rise over the coming year as claims made as a result of the two recent periods of severe winter weather could exceed €500 million.

The Irish Insurance Federation has predicted that the cost of settling claims out of last month’s big freeze will exceed the €245m bill which resulted from flooding in certain parts of the country last November.

The federation’s chief executive, Michael Kemp, told the Oireachtas Committee yesterday that the two events were “the two single most expensive weather losses in the history of the Irish market”.