Mayo homeowners being ripped off for insurance
Residents in Mayo face huge house insurance bills.
A Mayo TD has said the home insurance 'rip' off of homeowners in the county must be tackled.
Mayo homeowners pay the third highest level of home insurance in the country, just behind Leitrim and Roscommon.
Sinn Fein TD Rose Conway-Walsh said the costs are unfair and unjustified.
“This makes no sense on a number of fronts. Firstly, how can a home valued over €1 million in Dalkey have an average insurance cost of €537 while a €275,000 home in Mayo be charged €694. Surely, replacing the Dalkey home would cost more than the Mayo Home.
“Secondly, Insurance companies continue to announce massive increases in their profit margins. The promised reform is of no use to policy holders unless their insurance costs are reduced. The purpose of any reform in the insurance sector should be to reduce costs for consumers, not to bolster the profits of the insurance industry. Sinn Féin’s Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill would hold the industry to account and put pressure on insurers to lower prices by requiring them to disclose how they have or have not passed on the savings made by the personal injuries guidelines to their customers – euro for euro," said Deputy Conway-Walsh.
“Insurance Ireland and the insurance companies must now come before the Finance Oireachtas Committee to explain the discrepancies between counties as well as the overall cost of home insurance. The raw data the insurance companies are using to demand extortionate prices from home owners must be made available and must be explained," the Erris-based TD added.
