Levies on insurance policies could help address flood crisis

Calahonda52

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/levies-on-insurance-policies-could-help-address-flood-crisis-1.2491332

The Government is examining levies on insurance policies as part of its response to the flooding crisis.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said large levies are being considered by the Cabinet.
....

So the folk who pay their home insurance will get shafted again to pay for bad planning etc, just like poor regulation got the same punter shafted by Quinn Insurance.

"The best little pond country in the world to get: 'verb as appropriate' "

MadsL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levee

Silly Gubbermint can't spell.

PARlance

Wish this levee was dry.

Liam McPoyle

Calahonda52 wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/levies-on-insurance-policies-could-help-address-flood-crisis-1.2491332

The Government is examining levies on insurance policies as part of its response to the flooding crisis.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said large levies are being considered by the Cabinet.
....

So the folk who pay their home insurance will get shafted again to pay for bad planning etc, just like poor regulation got the same punter shafted by Quinn Insurance.

"The best little pond country in the world to get: 'verb as appropriate' "

Flooding in the main is down to poor infrastructure in terms of getting rid of excess rain water and the amount of properties built on flood plains, they should never have been granted planning permission. There is also the issue of inadequate flood defenses.

These are not problems created by insurance companies, they have been created by the government by allowing builders to build where ever the hell they wanted and their unwillingness to invest in flood protection.

It would be grossly unfair to apply another levy to the already stretched consumers.

We are still paying for PMPA.

We are still paying for Quinn.

We are likely going to get hit with having to pay for Setanta insurance and the €97 million that's owed to drivers with claims outstanding from their collapse.

That spanner from the OPW that was on Prime Time bitching about the insurers not doing enough can suck my ass too.

suicide_circus

So people build their one off bungalow with ghastly fake stone cladding on flood plains and then spend the following decades bitching that they have poor services and looking for compo when the inevitable flooding happens. To be fair, I wouldn't want my sitting room carpet to be encrusted in human excrement but then that is also a consequence of their one of bungalow and its associated septic tank. Now the government want to levie all us unlanded types who have to live cheek by jowl with our fellow plebs? We just don't do personal responsibility in this country.

pawrick

Plenty of apartment blocks and estates around athlone affected. It's not a one off housing issue, it's a poor planning practices issue.

suicide_circus

pawrick wrote: »

Plenty of apartment blocks and estates around athlone affected. It's not a one off housing issue, it's a poor planning practices issue.

I'd be interested what % of the affected properties are apartments etc.

The_Valeyard

suicide_circus wrote: »

I'd be interested what % of the affected properties are apartments etc.

If it were a top floor apartment, the whole country be in barges and canoes at this stage.

riffmongous

MadsL wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levee

Silly Gubbermint can't spell.

I just automatically assumed that's what they meant, someone in the government must just be a having a laugh

recylingbin

pawrick wrote: »

Plenty of apartment blocks and estates around athlone affected. It's not a one off housing issue, it's a poor planning practices issue.

Built on flood plains?

pawrick

Can't seem to quote a reply here on my phone but yes apartments around athlone built on what are called callows. One block in particular is above water but was evacuated as they can not get power due to the flooding. Being on the top floor and dry isn't great when your building power is gone. No idea what the stats are can only comet on what I see plenty of once of houses flooded also which are on flood plains but a lot of it comes back to planning decisions, people wanting to build in unsuitable locations and being let.

suicide_circus

pawrick wrote: »

Can't seem to quote a reply here on my phone but yes apartments around athlone built on what are called callows. One block in particular is above water but was evacuated as they can not get power due to the flooding. Being on the top floor and dry isn't great when your building power is gone. No idea what the stats are can only comet on what I see plenty of once of houses flooded also which are on flood plains but a lot of it comes back to planning decisions, people wanting to build in unsuitable locations and being let.

I agree planning is a big factor but no one forced these people to build on these flood plains, just becuase they were given permission dosnt make it a good idea. It also dosnt mean the rest of us should pick up the tab when things go tits up. It's like people blaming the banks for giving them 110% mortgages. Sorry did they force you to take the money? Did someone put a gun to your head? It all comes back to our aversion to taking responsibility for our own actions.

The Backwards Man

You know what works better than levies on insurance companies to address flooding?

Levees on rivers.

pawrick

suicide_circus wrote: »

I agree planning is a big factor but no one forced these people to build on these flood plains, just becuase they were given permission dosnt make it a good idea. It also dosnt mean the rest of us should pick up the tab when things go tits up. It's like people blaming the banks for giving them 110% mortgages. Sorry did they force you to take the money? Did someone put a gun to your head? It all comes back to our aversion to taking responsibility for our own actions.

I don't disagree, just pointing out that's it's not only an issue with once off housing which some people seem to think it is. The issue doesn't affect me personally apart from getting irritated at the thought of paying increased insurance to pay for poor planning in flood plains and having to listen to the same elected officials who were in office during much of these developments and made cases for them against all practical reasoning to now going around trying to get some votes and look good saying how shocking the whole thing is,

Atlantic Dawn

The floods will happen whether there's levys or not, it's rubbish planning and rubbish river/drain maintenance that are the issue.

darkpagandeath

People getting refused planning permission 2 times and getting it on the 3rd somehow to build on a floodplain. Also when people say the area has never flooded have a river in the background or bottom of the garden on the news.

Zaph

I don't live anywhere near a flood plain. If my house were ever to be flooded it's probably the end of the world or something and I'll have more than a few warped floorboards to be worried about. So why the hell should my home insurance be hit with an additional charge to ensure that all those people who didn't do their homework as to where their house was located before they bought/built it get a hefty payout when the inevitable happens? My understanding is that insurance is for peace of mind in case something bad happens. When there's almost a 100% guarantee that it's going to happen at some stage it's idiocy to expect someone to pay repeatedly for your folly.

c_man

Lets the floods pay the flood tax.