Some new housing estates may have flood peril excluded from their household insurance policies at the time of renewal, the chief executive of the Irish Brokers' Association has warned.
Mr Paul Carty said that householders affected by serious flooding for the first time may have problems getting cover in the future. Such policies might also be subject to significantly higher premiums.
"Some of these new estates in Dublin, Meath and Kildare, for example, were built on the banks of streams or small rivers, and that feature was a selling point. Now insurers may exclude flood as a peril unless they are reassured by the local authority that sufficient remedial action has been taken to prevent flooding recurring", Mr Carty said.
Mr Michael Kemp, chief executive of the Irish Insurance Federation, said he thought it was too early to suggest that householders would have difficulty getting flood cover based on one incident. "Deleting a standard peril is a last resort for areas that have had repeated problems over the years and insurance companies are very reluctant to do it", he said.
A small number of specific areas have been identified as flooding blackspots by insurance companies, which will not insure them. This is because flooding ceases to be insurable when it occurs repeatedly.
According to the IBA, the majority of household policies are undervalued. This is because of rapidly rising construction costs. If the sum insured has not been increased for more than two years, the house is likely to be underinsured, and this has implications for any claims made.
The last major weather event to cause widespread damage to property was during the Christmas and new year period in 1998-1999. Those storms cost in the region of £40 million in claims.
Mr Kemp said that the industry expected fewer claims this time. However, the amounts claimed would be much higher because flooding tended to cause more extensive damage to property.