Almost 1 in 4 Irish Homes Have Sustained Weather Damage

Almost a quarter of homeowners have experienced some form of damage to their property as a result of weather conditions in the past 24 months, according to recent findings from AA Home Insurance.

In response to a survey of over 4,000 AA Home Insurance customers, 23.02% indicated that their property had sustained some level of weather-inflicted damage during the past two years. 19.27% of respondents to the survey reported that the damage to their property was minor, with 3.75% describing the damage as of a more serious nature.

“The past year in particular has seen Ireland hit by a number of serious weather events from storms to freak snowfall and it appears that homeowners across Ireland have felt the effect of this directly. While the majority of those who experienced damage to their home described the damage as minor or easily repaired, it is a timely reminder to all of us of how dangerous these conditions can be,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs stated. “Ultimately, we’ve already seen our first serious storm of the August/Winter season and there’s certainly the potential that more of these events could occur in the near future so it’s important that homeowners prepare accordingly.”

Of those cases where property had been damaged by weather in the past two years, Ex-Hurricane Ophelia was likely to be the weather event that caused the most damage.

31.78% of respondents whose property was damaged in the past 24 months identified Ophelia as the cause of the damage, with a further 27.10% stating that their homes had been damaged by Storm Emma and the snowfall seen in early 2018.

Meanwhile, the first major storm of Autumn 2018, Storm Ali, was the case of damage in 16.82% of cases where a home had sustained weather damage.

“Unsurprisingly Ex-Hurricane Ophelia was the leading cause of weather-induced damage to properties in Ireland over the past 2 years and I think we’re all crossing our fingers that we won’t see anything of that level again anytime soon. However, Storm Ali which was relatively minor in comparison to both Ophelia and Emma still caused a significant level of property damage across the country,” Faughnan added. “As we move closer to winter and weather conditions almost certainly take a turn for the worst, homeowners need to ensure their home is adequately prepared and that you have your home insurance in place and up to date.”