Insurers offering cover again to businesses in at-risk zones

Insurance companies are beginning to provide flood cover again to businesses in some of Cork City’s most at-risk flood zones.

A senior insurance industry expert said a business on Oliver Plunkett St, an area repeatedly hit by flooding, has secured flood insurance within the last two months.

Public loss assessor, Eamonn Downey, of Owens McCarthy claims specialists, said the owners of uninsured businesses stand the best chance of getting flood cover again by hiring a local broker.

“Policy choices and the wording in them are too complex to be readily understood by the untrained observer,” he told those attending the Cork Business Association’s flood prevention workshops

“Working with a local broker is the only way to get insurance in the city centre. Local knowledge is worth a fortune. They will come out and examine your property in detail to see how you’ve managed to reduce your flood risk.

“You must tell your broker all the relevant facts and you must discuss with your broker the claims process.

“You must also tell your broker that you will go back to the market every four or five years to keep your broker fresh.

“Make no mistake. The insurance companies will return to this market in time.”

But he warned that adequate flood cover does not come cheap.

Claire Nash — who runs the Nash 19 restaurant on Prince’s St — told the workshops how she rebuilt her business after it was devastated in the February 4 flood, and installed a raft of flood-damage mitigation measures.

She has raised the floor level by 300mm, installed new storm drains, a non-return valve system, a manual pump system, has tarred and bitumened the restaurant walls, and has raised the height of all the electrics.

She said armed with this, and with a detailed flood resilience plan, she is currently in negotiation with an insurance firm about securing flood cover for the business.

However, several other businesses on Oliver Plunkett St remain without flood insurance cover.

Business owners in Blackpool, another flood-risk area, said that they are also finding it impossible to get flood cover.