Insurance must be provided to homes remediated of pyrite – Farrell

Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, Alan Farrell, has raised the issue of home insurance being refused to owners of pyrite remediated properties with the Minister of State in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Paudie Coffey TD.

“The issue of pyrite remediated properties being refused home insurance is one which must be addressed urgently. I understand that this is a stressful issue for homeowners, particularly as my own residence was remediated from pyrite 3 years ago. The fact that insurance providers seem to be unwilling to insure homes that have been remediated from pyrite is unfair and unacceptable. A negative implication of this is that owners face a great deal of difficulty if they want to sell their homes, as potential buyers are put off by the fear of being unable to acquire home insurance. There is no understandable reason as to why a home insurance provider should refuse to insure a pyrite remediated home and this is an issue upon which Minister Coffey and I are agreed.

“I have called upon the Minister to take on the responsibility of finding a solution to this issue and I have urged him to examine the possibility of establishing a voluntary agreement between the Government and the insurance providers, along the lines of the Declined Cases Agreement which operates in the motor insurance industry.

“Such an agreement in relation to home insurance would ensure that, where insurance has been refused by three companies, the first company which was approached would be obliged to provide a homeowner with a quote. A committee would be established to administer this agreement and ensure that quotes provided are not made excessively expensive by the provider as a means of refusal. Furthermore, companies could be required to sign up to such an agreement to receive authorisation to practice.

“I will continue to work towards finding a solution which will assist affected homeowners in gaining access to home insurance and prevent companies from refusing to provide a quote on the basis that pyrite had previously been present in a property.”