The Association of British Insurers (ABI) warned that hundreds of thousands of houses could lack flood insurance protection after an agreement with the government ends on mid 2013.
As the current agreement between home insurance companies and the government states, homes at risk from flood will continue to be insured while the government continues to improve flood defences.
However, such agreement is due to end on 1 July 2013 and there is no commitment to extend the protection at present.
Flooding is a very common problem that homes struggle within certain UK areas. This is why having house insurance in place is essential in order to be protected in case of accident. Most providers will automatically include an amount for contents cover suitable for your property. Thanks to a home content estimator you can know which items could be insured.
Maintaining and improving flood defences in the UK currently comes at a very high price – around £1.1 billion per year. Besides, that amount is set to rise – a recent study forecasted it might increase to between £1.5 billion and £3.5 billion per year by the 2020s.
The origin of this conflict is, therefore, who is going to pay for coverage if the flooding protection if it is not extended in the agreement between the Government and the house insurance companies.
“Flood protection is a national priority, yet many people in flood-prone areas may find their homes difficult to insure from later this year. People want the government to take decisive action now, to ensure that their homes are protected. But that’s not happening with the Environment Agency’s budget cut by 10%,” said Simon Douglas, director of broker AA Insurance
According to experts, a property is defined as being at risk if it has a one in 75 chance of flooding in any given year. Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire is the constituency with the most homes at significant risk of flooding, with 7,550 properties under threat, followed by the Vale of Clwyd (7,339 homes), Folkestone and Hythe (7,196), and Windsor (7,125).
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