Insurance industry braced for blizzard of claims after storm

While previous weather events have cost insurers hundreds of millions of euro, we don’t yet know the total cost of the Beast from the East – nor do we know the effect it might have on premiums, and on the industry as a whole

Brother and sister Seamus Ashe and Maureen Sammon walk along a snow trench in Straffan Co Kildare. Luckily, insurance premiums are unlikely to be as steep

There’s bread on the supermarket shelves again, and the nationwide chaos of the recent Beast from the East has calmed.

But for those affected by the weather, be it water damage from melting snow or a car accident when driving in icy conditions, the claims process is under way.

Insurance industry insiders say it is too early to estimate the total cost of the latest weather event, but previous storms and floods have ...