The organisers of popular beer festival Oktoberfest have slammed some of the “bizarre” personal injury claims which led to a hike in its insurance premium.

It was announced on Wednesday that the event would not be running in Dublin this year due to an “unprecedented increase in insurance”.

Oktoberfest was due to be held in the capital for its 11th year but the plug was pulled, with Ireland’s claim culture being cited as a factor.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Charlie Egan, one of the project managers for the event, said previous claims had “started to catch up on them”.

He revealed how a woman received €16,000 after a plastic flag with a beer logo fell on her shoulder and another woman received €36,000 after she twisted her ankle while walking.

“While we haven’t seen a mad increase in the number of claims, we have seen more people claiming for soft tissue injuries.

“We’ve had a few incidents where people were dancing and twisted their ankle and somehow it was deemed our fault,” he said.

Oktoberfest – which originated in Munich, Germany – was previously held on George’s Dock in the IFSC.

“The boards that the deck was built on, they were special boards that were slip resistant and made in Germany and they are specially made to withstand wet conditions,” he said. “A woman twisted her ankle in 2014 and the claim was settled on the steps of the court more than two years later.

“We see a lot of incidents where people are fine leaving the site and then a week later we get a solicitor’s letter.

“This ‘no win, no fee’ [culture] is also a big problem as it’s all becoming very America-like.”

Mr Egan said their German partners decided to “take a break to see how the insurance crisis here pans out”.

When the event first started out in Dublin, the premium was €1,900. The quote this year was for €19,500.

“We want it to go ahead next year but we are looking for a fair environment to operate in. We are looking for another venue where we can get insurance at a reasonable price,” he added.

Mr Egan is also involved in running charity events and recently had to get people to sign legal disclaimers to participate in an ‘egg and spoon’ race.

“The fun is being taken out of everything. Once we have an incident, we notify the insurers and they take over. We don’t have any say in what happens or any say in what investigations happen – it’s left entirely with them,” he said.

“Then we’re told if someone could have got €70,000 but only received €36,000 it’s a great result. The whole thing is so ambiguous.”

Peter Boland, spokesman for the Alliance for Insurance Reform, said the announcement was “unfortunately unsurprising”.

Source: Read Full Article