Insurance premiums may be on the rise after big freeze

AS INSURANCE companies brace themselves for a renewed surge in claims from motorists resulting from icy weather, a number of companies have predicted premiums will rise this year.

The motor insurance business, which is still dealing with claims for vehicles damaged in last November’s floods, is currently receiving several hundred claims a day for crashes due to the freezing conditions.

A spokesman for the Irish Insurance Federation said the industry had seen “a huge number of claims for accidents and liability” since the start of the cold snap. But he said it was “too soon” to say if it would result in increases in premiums.

However a number of insurance firms said they were bracing themselves for one of the worst winters for motorists in decades.

Damien O’Neill of Allianz said premium increases “are highly likely”. This was because of the “significance and magnitude of recent experience”. He said with investment returns at an all-time low, the only way insurance firms can recover losses was through price increases.

While O’Neill agreed it was “a little too early” to quantify the levels, he said Allianz was already taking in significant numbers of claims “and these are likely to snowball, to use a popular expression”.

The icy roads have also given rise to a question of liability on the part of local authorities, in relation to both gritted roads and those which local authorities failed to grit.

Liam Moloney, a Kildare-based personal injury solicitor said local authorities had a legal duty to maintain the roads in their area, and this would include housing estates which have been taken in charge.

“In many cases, local authorities did not have sufficient amounts of salt in their stockpile to treat all of the hazardous roads and footpaths in their areas of responsibility, which left many areas untreated and thereby in a dangerous condition,” he said. “It is not a defence to plead lack of resources when they have a legal responsibility to act promptly. Many innocent victims sustained quite significant injuries which may lead to compensation payouts.”

Liam Kenny of the Association of City and County Councils said yesterday he did not know what was the legal position was in relation to gritting the roads, adding that there was a broad obligation to maintain the roads, but how far that extended in regard to responsibility for clearing the roads of ice and snow, particularly in regard to what could be reasonably expected, he did not know.

A spokesman for Dublin City Council explained the legislation included “no specific provision for de-icing”, but added that there was provision in legislation for maintenance and road safety issues.