Adverse weather sees insurance firms pay out more than half a billion euro

More than half a billion euro has been paid out by insurance companies during the recent flooding and freezing weather.

That is according to the Irish Industry Federation, which paid out €244m to customers affected by the flooding in November last, and €297m during the big freeze in January.

More than 8,500 claims were handled during the floods over a three-week period, with the greatest number of claims in Cork.

The IIF says the January freeze was the largest single weather event to date, with over 22,000 claims handled, with Cork and Dublin most seriously affected.

It is now calling on the Government to invest heavily in prevention of damage by severe weather and says it would not rule out investing in infrastructure itself.