Deer collisions linked to 466 insurance claims in last six years
New figures from an Irish insurance company show it is dealing with an increasing number of deer-related claims.
According to FBD Insurance in the last six years it has recorded 466 deer-related claims and the vast majority of those were connected with vehicle damage from deer collisions.
Sean Kelleher, chief underwriting officer in FBD Insurance, told the latest meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food about the company's experience when it comes to the "practical risks" of deer management.
Kelleher said: "From an insurance and risk-management perspective, poorly managed deer populations can create a range of exposures.
"These include deer-vehicle collisions on rural roads, damage to farm infrastructure and crops and broader pressure on farmers, landowners and local communities where deer densities become unsustainable."
Kelleher said that since 2020 FBD Insurance had recorded 466 deer-related claims - with the vast majority relating to vehicle damage arising from deer-vehicle collisions.
Deer claims
According to FBD Insurance the number of claims associated with deers have increased over recent years - it hit 99 claims in 2024, and so far this year 33 claims have been recorded.
According to the insurance company certain counties are more likely than others to submit these claims - and these generally reflect where deer populations are highest.
Kerry, Cork, Galway, Tipperary and Wicklow top the list where the most deer-related claims originate.
According to the chief underwriting officer in FBD Insurance the company recognises that "deer are an important part of Ireland’s natural environment".
Kelleher also told the Oireachtas commiteee that the company believes that the management of deer "must be lawful, humane, evidence-led and locally coordinated".
But he said ultimately, FBD Insurance believes that "effective deer management will support safer roads and farms".
The committee yesterday (Wednesday, May 20) also heard from the Road Safety Authority (RSA), the National Association of Regional Game Councils and Westmeath County Council.
Collisions
According to Michael Rowland, director of research, standards andassurance at the RSA, its analysis of collision data for 2019-2025 showed there had been "41 casualty collisions" which either involved deer, or the road user was avoiding deer at the time of the collision.
Rowland added: "None of these collisions were fatal collisions.
"These 41 collisions represent less than 1% of the casualty collisions that occurred during this time period".
However he also told the commiteee that the RSA had analysed "material damage collisions" that occurred during 2019-2025.
"Over this seven year time period, 1,382 collisions were recorded as having either involved deer, or the road user was avoiding deer at the time of the collision.
"Just under half of these collisions occurred across Kerry (11%), Cork (10%), Wicklow (8%), Tipperary (8%) and Donegal (7%).
"These 1,382 collisions represent less than 1% of the materialdamage collisions that occurred during this time period," Rowland added.
