Insurance hikes in the pipeline after GAA’s €2m big freeze

THE GAA is facing a major hike in their property insurance premium after €2 million worth of claims were made due to damage to county and clubs grounds during the extreme weather over the Christmas period.

The association’s director of finance Tom Ryan last night revealed the extent of the running cost to the GAA, with more claims expected to be made on top of the 80 already recorded.

The Kerry County Board have made the second highest application with €100,000 worth of damage done to Killarney’s Fitzgerald Stadium in December because of a frozen oil tank.

Derry hurling club Kevin Lynch’s are the biggest claimants after their grounds in Dungiven were affected to the tune of £160,000 (€182,000), although Croke Park weren’t notified about their problems until the middle of this month.

The Kerry board were forced to close Fitzgerald Stadium for two months because of the substantial level of damage done to their dressing rooms, toilets, first-aid room and referee’s room, which had only been opened in 2009 in a €4.8m redevelopment at the venue. The grounds were only made available again to the senior footballers for the visit of Galway in the Allianz League on March 13.

The GAA’s risk and insurance manager Sinead Quinn pointed out the board had taken all the necessary precautions but couldn’t legislate for what happened.

“They did everything right in Fitzgerald Stadium,” Quinn pointed out. “They drained the system, turned the thermostat on but in the end the oil in the tank froze.

“The damage was quite extensive and it just goes to highlight to everybody how serious the matter is. It’s something everybody has to take notice of.”

Quinn explained most of the claims are around the €20,000 to €30,000 mark with the thaw after Christmas Day bursting water pipes being cited as the major cause of damage to club property.

The issue has been included in the GAA’s latest newsletter to clubs with the warning that “extreme weather before Christmas has lead to a massive increase in losses on the association’s property policy”.

The GAA are asking all clubs to report damage to insurers as soon as possible.

“It’s not unique to the association,” said Quinn.

“Everybody got hit by the terrible weather. But it was our close season and things weren’t checked, like the precautions you would take with your house, making sure the water was turned off.

“A lot of the incidents were reported weeks after. There were a few when the damage wasn’t noted until it was too late.”

Quinn revealed clubs have to pay an excess of €4,000 on the damage themselves but is aware several clubs have “been hit by damages that amount to less than the excess”.