ABI WARNS ON FLOOD DANGER FOR PROPOSED NEW HOMES

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned that plans to build up to 300,000 homes in south-east England could result in a 5% increase in flood claims on a national basis and a 75% increase in the areas in which the new homes are being built, equal to £55m a year. The ABI added that an extreme flood in planned new developments such as Thames Gateway could cause losses of more than £4bn, unless measures were taken to prevent flooding and to reduce its effects. ABI head of household and property Jane Milne said that “insurers feel very strongly that they have to send a message now before [the houses] are built, because we don’t want to be telling customers in 30 to 40 years time after climate has made the flood risk worse: ‘Sorry, we can’t cover you any more’”. She added that “our problem is that some local authorities carry on as if flooding was not a threat and ignore the advice of the Environment Agency”. In the Thames Gateway nearly 90% of the proposed new properties are on the flood plain, meaning that to obtain insurance they would need to be properly protected by sea and river defences, while electrics would have to be above flood level and the ground floor would need to consist of non-occupied areas such as garages.