Rural dwellers ‘at the mercy of insurance firms’

Rural dwellers living in areas that have never been flooded are being blacklisted by insurance companies, even if they have never or rarely made a claim.

Some insurance companies are placing such a premium on policies as to render homes or businesses uninsurable, according to the Irish Rural Dwellers Association.

IRDA chairman James Doyle told the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment yesterday that people were “at the mercy of insurance companies” and had no redress when either refused cover or faced with uneconomic premiums.