Flood Insurance Deal Needs Work
Our government has recently made a deal with UK insurers to provide insurance cover against flooding, and the announcement was originally well received. However, it has been revealed that the deal doesn't protect all buildings, causing the government to come under fire. The insurance deal excludes all homes built after 2009 and any small firms.
It has been claimed that the bill must protect all properties that are susceptible to flooding like the deal originally stated. Known as the ‘Flood Re’, householders will have to pay an extra £10.50 on top of their insurance premiums, which is a small price to pay for protection against a potentially disastrous flood risk. This premium increase will allow insurers to offer capped premiums to buildings that are in the listed risk areas.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the UK Government have argued that no home built after 2009 should be included in the insurance cover because planning regulations that were put in place in 2009 stated that new buildings should not have been constructed on a floodplain. However, even after the new regulations, buildings are still being constructed on these floodplains. Last year, the Glasdir estate in Ruthin, Denbighshire flooded with 100 homes left submerged under water. Some of the homes on the estate were built before 2009, some after and some were even still under construction.
Huw Hilditch-Roberts, a councillor for Ruthin, said: “It has to be a fair playing field for everybody. We can’t separate people out.” Tim Maddox, a café owner from the same area, said: “My business has suffered flooding almost every year for the past decade. I fear the consequences if my insurer, NFU Mutual, decides that the risks are too great to continue to cover. We never claim on our insurance, but we need it because we’re on a floodplain and you don’t know what’s going to happen. We know it’s going to happen so we do everything we can to prepare for it, but one day it’s going to happen where we can’t prepare for it and that’s what we’ve got insurance for.”
James Savery, 07 October 2013