Biba will push for SMEs to access Flood Re

Biba has vowed to continue to lobby for SMEs to be able to access cover under Flood Re after the government decided to leave them out of the proposals.

In its response to the consultation on insurance in areas of flood risk the government confirmed that SMEs will not be eligible for the scheme.

It said there was “insufficient evidence” to justify intervention.

In August, Biba responded to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) consultation stating that it believed small businesses, particularly mixed-use properties such as bed and breakfasts, should be included in Flood Re.

Biba executive director Graeme Trudgill said: “The current statement of principles does cover SMEs and our official response to the original consultation was that we would like small businesses to be protected.

“We spoke with the government about this yesterday, the concern is that some of these small businesses will buy a policy in the name of the business and not the private individual policyholder and therefore it wouldn’t be eligible for Flood Re.

“The members want protection to continue for small businesses, it doesn’t look like this current proposal does and therefore we’ll be carrying on with our lobbying and we’re expecting movement in the House next week with the bill continuing and we’ll be making our points again to the Scrutiny Committee when that comes up in December.”