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Rules on CCTV footage are leaving marts exposed to insurance claims, ICOS livestock services executive Ray Doyle has told the Irish Farmers Journal.
After 28 days, CCTV footage from marts must be deleted, under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, he said. However, a person has up to two years to lodge an insurance claim, so marts may be left with no evidence to refute claims.
Doyle said the GDPR regulations need to be dovetailed with a notice period to lodge a claim.
In order for marts to reduce their insurance bills, they will have to change their practices, Doyle said.
“It is too early for marts which have made changes to see a benefit from the changes [in their premiums]. It normally takes two to three years before premiums go down.
“Premiums have gone up between 10% and 15% this year in some marts in the absence of a claim, but some marts have seen their premiums increase by 50% when a claim has been lodged against their policy.” The last 12 months were very challenging for marts, with most struggling to break even, he said.
“Marts are faced with higher insurance and rates. There has been an equalisation of rates in some counties, so in some cases there is now no difference in rates paid by an affluent county town and a satellite town. Some marts have seen a reduction in rates, but these are few.”
Mart trade
Doyle, however, is quick to point out that it’s not all doom and gloom and he is upbeat about the mart trade for 2019.
“This year has the hallmarks of being a positive year as the cattle census would indicate that the numbers of cattle are still in the country and remain to be presented for sale at marts.
“We are hoping to recoup the drop in numbers in 2018 as a result of the harsh spring and drought.”
Doyle’s comments come ahead of a meeting of mart managers in early February at which FBD, the main insurer of marts in Ireland, will be looking at tackling the high costs of claims and reducing mart premiums.
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