Insurers Pushed on Flood Claims
Ministers have already met local councils to discuss how to spend the £14m relief package announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
UK insurers are facing a bill of about £1.5bn after June's floods. The flooding is estimated to have hit 31,200 homes and 7,000 firms, mainly in the Midlands and northern England. Earlier, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears told the House of Commons that pressure was being applied to insurers. She said: "I hope the House will appreciate how seriously we're taking this issue around insurance to make sure that claims are dealt with speedily, fairly, and [that] there is sufficient capacity to really get on with this, because this is a top priority for members of the public." Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) described the meeting with ministers as "very constructive". "We believe 99% of properties have now been visited by an insurance representative or loss adjuster," he said. "The key priority right now is to make sure that anyone whose is property is uninhabitable gets into alternative accommodation and to help business get back to trading." Mr Tarling added that in the longer term, the construction industry should be given incentives to ensure all newly-built homes were better protected from flooding and local councils should ensure drainage was better.
Spending Shortfall
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has said the government is to increase flood defence spending from £600m this year to £800m a year in 2010/11. Nevertheless, insurers have been critical about the level of government spending on flood defences. Last year there was a £15m shortfall in the amount of money spent on flood defences. Under a deal struck between the government and the insurance industry in 2005, insurers agreed to continue to offer cover for homes at risk of flood. But if the government fails to fulfil its side of the bargain, people at risk of flooding could be refused cover by insurers. Insurers have also called for more information on the country's flood defences, in order to help them offer cover.
Insurance Threat
Some firms, it seems, are already re-assessing who they should insure following the recent floods. German insurer Allianz said the recent floods were a "wake-up call" for the industry. "Flood in the UK, we believe, is right up there as a major world-class risk," Clement Booth, chairman of Allianz UK, told the Financial Times newspaper. He added it was too early to say how much insurance premiums would increase by.