Ophelia: ‘Too soon to assess cost of damage’

Irish insurers have paid out €1.3bn to policyholders as a direct result of storms and flooding over the past 10 years, the industry’s representative body has said.

However, Insurance Ireland, which represents almost 130 companies providing insurance domestically in Ireland, says it is still too soon to accurately assess the cost of the damage caused by ex-Hurricane Ophelia, which battered the country on Monday.

Businesses, homeowners, and motorists are still in the process of counting the costs of the storm’s impact, and as yet the total cost is unknown, Insurance Ireland says.