THE ASSOCIATION of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that up to 200,000 households in England and Wales will struggle to obtain flood insurance when a voluntary agreement ends next summer.
The organisation is urging the government to act fast and develop an insurance solution for homes that are considered to be at “high risk” of flooding.
Insurers currently provide affordable flood cover to such properties but firms say the current agreement will not be renewed since it “grossly distorts the market”, forcing low risk households to subsidise those that are regularly flooded.
Otto Thoresen, ABI’s director general, said: “No country in the world has an entirely free market providing universal affordable flood insurance, and action is needed now.”
