Issued 9 March 2020.  Insurance Ireland and its members are continuing to work with Government and the relevant state agencies to ensure that the insurance sector is prepared for the current and potential future developments of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). Speaking today interim CEO of Insurance Ireland, Gerry Hassett said “the key priority for the insurance sector in Ireland is to put in place solutions that allow Insurers to operate effectively over the coming weeks and months. Central to this is ensuring that customers can continue to interact with insurance companies as they would do in normal conditions. As an employer of over 28,000 people the health and safety of employees is of paramount importance.”

Gerry continued “We are working with government to ensure accurate and up to date information is made available to members and their customers in a timely fashion. Furthermore, we are in contact with our colleagues in other European markets to learn from the experiences.” Gerry concluded “Insurance Ireland and our members will continue to work to ensure that customers receive the best possible service from their insurer”.

Among the measures that Insurance Ireland members are taking are:

• Insurance Ireland has been proactively engaging with customers to advise them to look at their policy documents as a first port of call if they have any queries in relation to what cover they have in place. A good place to start is the Insurance Product Information Document (IPID). The first section of the IPID lists what is insured?This includes the material damages that are covered under the policy. As there are many differences in cover from policy to policy it is our strong advice that policy holders (both individual and commercial) understand what material damages are covered under their policy.
• Insurers are rolling out the contingency plans to ensure that they can continue as much service as normal to customers who may need to renew a policy or make a claim under an existing policy. Insurers have spent the last couple of weeks testing and refining these plans to ensure that customers experience little or no interruption to service levels.
• Insurers as employers are putting in place plans to ensure that their employees can work efficiently in the event that virus prevention measures are implemented by the government.
• Insurance Ireland is working with government to ensure that accurate updates are provided to members on the most up to date scientific advice available from the HSE.

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Nuala Buttner

Q4 Public Relations

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