The Government intends to focus on measures that will lower the risk of fire in thatched buildings in a bid to reduce underwriters’ costs and bring down insurance premiums.
report by the Department of Housing on insurance found that just over half of thatched property owners currently have house insurance in place due to issues getting cover. People seeking first-time quotes are being offered premiums in excess of over €2,500 and many have been unable to obtain insurance as the only Irish firm providing cover stopped offering new policies last year as its underwriter had reached its quota.
Research carried out by the department found there have been 72 fires in thatched properties in the last five years. The majority of these were caused by chimney fires where solid fuel stoves were in use.
Thatched property owners have criticised the report and questioned why there was no insight or quotes from Irish insurers.
It contains a lot of advice about how to prevent fires in properties but does not provide any in-depth analysis about insurance issues.
Some owners who have spent thousands of euros improving fire safety in their properties have still been faced with huge insurance bills.
“While the report covers a lot of thatch fire risk issues, it doesn’t really analyse the insurance problem in any great detail, nor does it propose any workable solutions either in the immediate or longer term,” one owner said.
Thatched cottages have been a quintessential Irish symbol for hundreds of years, but it is estimated there are just over 1,000 still in existence on the whole island.
Irish companies that provided insurance are no longer taking on new customers due to a “serious deterioration in the claims experience”, and UK underwriters that previously insured these homes have quit the market since Brexit.
There were 482 property owners surveyed as part of the Government’s research.
Only 53pc of the respondents have house insurance, while 65pc had difficulty getting insurance.
The report said wood burning and multi-fuelled stoves are not recommended for use in thatched buildings as they have been demonstrated to present a greater risk than other forms of heating, including traditional open fires.
