Speaking out: Louis Fitzgerald at the bar of The Stag’s Head. Photo: David Conachy

A successful bar and hotel owner says that exaggerated accident claims are risking the future of businesses.

Louis Fitzgerald, who runs some of Dublin's best known bars, says minor accidents which are shrugged off in the home can result in major payouts when they happen in business premises.

"If somebody bangs their arm or leg off a table corner at home, they get a bruise and go about their business," he said.

"But if the same thing happens in a pub the same bang - according to the legal and medical papers we regularly receive - has a major detrimental impact on their physical and mental wellbeing."

Mr Fitzgerald, from Tipperary, also believes claimants deliberately target businesses with a high turnover. He revealed he has 65 claims pending against the hotels, restaurants and bars he owns with his wife Helen.

He added that the problem is causing young publicans to be driven out of business by insurance and legal costs.

"We are very concerned about the amount of time, effort and money that goes into dealing with minor and exaggerated claims and incidents which, if they happened in your own kitchen wouldn't raise an eyebrow, are now seen as an opportunity to make a claim," he said.

The Fitzgeralds head the family owned The Fitzgerald Pub and Hotel Group, which includes popular venues such as Kehoe's, The Stag's Head and The Quays in Temple Bar.

They also run the four-star Louis Fitzgerald Hotel on the Naas Road and the Arlington Hotel on O'Connell Bridge in Dublin city centre.

The couple shared a pay packet of €6.8m after a hugely successful 2018, but Mr Fitzgerald feels sometimes success comes with a price.

"Sometimes I've felt in court that even though the evidence obviously showed we weren't negligent, claimants have received money because of who they were claiming against," he said.

"Genuine accidents happen and that's what the insurance should cover. It should not be there for the benefit of spurious claims.

"The impact on our business is huge. We pay a significant insurance premium every year but on top of that we have an excess of over €1m.

"Effectively we have to pay out this amount in claims before the insurance cover kicks in.

"We are concerned that our managers and staff are increasingly having to spend less time dealing with customer service and more and more time dealing with the recording and administration of exaggerated claims."

Mr Fitzgerald started out in 1968 and recalls that insurance wasn't an issue at all.

"If I was starting out today, it wouldn't be the bank manager, it would be the premium. There's not much point getting a loan and getting an estimate when you can't even get affordable insurance," he said.

"It would appear the notion of personal responsibility is not relevant anymore. People take no responsibility for their own actions.

"It would appear the legal firms who bring claims of an exaggerated nature encourage the notion that somebody else is always responsible.

"The hospitality industry and the public authorities have been dealing with this phenomenon for quite a few years.

"Now this problem has got into almost every aspect of daily life."

Irish Independent