Hundreds of flood-hit Cork homes and businesses without insurance since Storm Babet

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Councillors have highlighted the plight of hundreds of previously flooded homeowners and businesses in East Cork who now can’t get their properties insured and have called for a scheme similar to the one that compensates victims of uninsured drivers.

Midleton and other communities in East Cork suffered devastating flooding during Storm Babet two years ago. At this week’s meeting of Cork County Council Cllr Ann Marie Ahern put forward a motion requesting that the local authority write to the government calling on it to assist those with no flood insurance and encourage insurance companies to give cover in flood-hit areas.

“I'm in somewhat disbelief that the government aren't pushing insurance companies to introduce a flood policy on insurance policies to allow people to be somewhat secure in their homes and businesses and community hubs,” she said.

“In doing background work for my motion I spoke with a number of businesses who've lost insurance in Midleton and East Cork since 2015 and homeowners since 2023 and every one of them all agreed that they'd actually happily pay a higher premium if it gave them peace of mind.”

Cllr John Buckley said his home in Midleton was flooded in 2015 and “we've had no home insurance since. There's about 600 premises in East Cork in the same situation and come every weather alert you're wondering ‘Is it us next?’ It's an awful way to be living your life.”

“We're 10 years without insurance in the house and I don't think we'll be getting it anytime soon but yet in other places in the estate in houses that did flood, they have gotten insurance since. So it seems that the insurance companies kind of pick and choose what they can and what they can't insure.”

Cllr Buckley mentioned the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland, which compensates victims of uninsured drivers, and called for “something similar for homes, the homes that aren't covered and that want to be covered.”

Cllr Michael Hegarty agreed that when it comes to flood cover, “insurance companies are a law unto themselves.” He said he knows of a case where a homeowner was refused insurance because insurers deemed the general area to be at risk of flooding “but where his house was positioned, there was never any flooding there or it was impossible for the place to flood. So the insurance companies are obviously working off desktop maps showing areas that possibly could flood.”

Cllr William O'Leary said the insurance industry has “a ferocious hold over this government. Over the last 10 years the government just haven't been able to stand up to that combined industry power.”

The council agreed to write to the relevant minister and to include Cllr Buckley’s suggestion of a scheme to protect those who can’t get insurance.