Governmentneeds tostepintotackle highinsurancecosts

HIGH SETTLEMENTS AND ASSOCIATED LEGAL COSTS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED

THE Government has to step in to cut down the amount money handed out through insurance claims and the legal costs associated with these.

That’s according to Banteer-based community worker Denis Withers, who said he believed not enough was being done at the highest level to address the issue of crippling insurance costs for community and voluntary groups.

Mr Withers, who is the secretary of the Banteer Community Sportsfield and treasurer of Banteer Community Childcare, said insurance costs for both groups had increased by up to 15% over the past two to three years.

“Insurance is always a major financial concern for groups like ours. We do not know from year to year how much the premiums will be, which presents us with problems in terms of future budgeting for services and developments,” he said.

“Like other bodies, we have looked around for competitive quotes, but the amount of detail some of the companies require makes filling out forms very difficult and time consuming.”

Mr Withers did say that both groups go through specialist community and voluntary insurance brokers BHP Insurance.

“They are very helpful, both in terms of help and advice and the competitive quotes they are able to offer us. However, they are underwritten by the larger insurance groups so face the same issues that individual groups do in terms of getting realistic insurance quotes,” he said.

“A policy has to match the individuals needs of each group. So while BHP will always do their very best to get the most competitive quote, they are not always able to as they can also be restricted by the practises of the larger underwriting insurance companies.”

Mr Withers said that there was no doubt but that the Government had a key role to play in addressing the issue of insurance costs and until such a time as they did so the future would remain uncertain for many community and voluntary groups across the country.

“Thankfully, the groups that I am involved with are on a steady footing in terms of finances, but the same can not be said for many other bodies operating around the North Cork area who will be forced into making some stark choices unless the burden placed on them by high insurance costs is tackled,” he said.

“Addressing the high levels of payouts on claims and the legal costs associated with these must be addressed as a matter of urgency if insurance premiums are to be brought back to manageable levels.”