Fictitious and exaggerated claims are causing mart insurance premiums to skyrocket.

Bogus claims need to be deterred and marts need to be protected from such claims to ensure they do not go out of business, ICOS livestock services executive Ray Doyle has said.

FBD, Ireland’s main mart insurer, this week said that it has seen an increase in the volume and value of insurance claims in recent years.

The company has a sophisticated fraud unit which investigates and challenges spurious, exaggerated or fraudulent claims, an FBD spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The insurer recently challenged a claim whereby a wife of a farmer alleged she slipped and fell on a mart premises. There were no witnesses and no report of the incident, FBD said. “Liability was in full dispute and on the morning of trial they withdrew the claim.”

The insurer also highlighted the high cost of successful claims. It gave the example of a claim where a mart employee, seriously injured by an animal while loading, sought over €2.5m in damages.

FBD challenged the amount of compensation to be paid and the case was settled after two days in court for over €650,000 plus costs.

Farmers and mart employees make up the majority of claims to FBD. Injury caused by livestock, a person receiving a blow from a gate or door and slips, trips and falls are the most common causes of claims.