Details of insurance 'confidential'

The Church & General insurance company has refused to give details of its wording for child abuse claims cover where Ireland's 26 Catholic dioceses are concerned.

It also refused to release details of premiums paid for such cover. Both matters were considered "commercially sensitive information" it said, in reply to queries from The Irish Times.

The company's annual report for 1996 did not refer specifically to the settlement reached that year with the Irish bishops, under which a lump sum of £3.4 million was paid over as part of a buy-out of cover for clerical child sex abuse claims up to then.

This was because the amount was not considered "a significant sum when taken in the context of claims paid by the company of circa £200 million and a provision for total outstanding liabilities of £623 million in 1997," it said.

The settlement was recorded however, "in the standard manner for claims under 'Claims Paid' in the Profit and Loss account". Nor was the insurance regulatory authority made aware of the settlement with the bishops, as the company was not required to do so, it said.

No religious order had or has policies to cover child sexual abuse claims with Church & General. However, the company does provide "standard public liability cover to the majority of the Religious Congregations in Ireland." Around 180 congregations would be involved, but specific details of the cover were confidential.

Asked whether it was ethical and/or legal for an insurer to provide indemnity where a criminal offence is/may be involved, the company responded that "Church & General did not provide cover to individual perpetrators. The cover referred to the "legal liability the various dioceses might have".