Flood victims wait for deal on affordable insurance

FLOOD-HIT communities will continue to get government support but will have to wait a while longer for a deal to be done on affordable insurance cover, the Environment Secretary has said.

Owen Paterson, who was touring flood defences yesterday in Worcestershire, praised the response of emergency services and the Environment Agency for reacting “heroically” to recent national flooding triggered by the wettest year on record.

He said the UK government had already committed to funding schemes protecting about 145,000 homes, and was putting more money into defences.

“Over the spending review period (to 2015) we had already pledged £2.71 billion and on top of that the Chancellor already announced in his Autumn Statement a further £120 million to protect a further 60,000 homes,” he said.

Mr Paterson also said partnership schemes had raised another £72m from the private sector.

However, he said there has been no deal done yet with the Association of British Insurers over the issue of affordable flood insurance for householders in areas of high risk, but he was confident of a resolution