Former Home Secretary David Blunkett has launched a blistering attack on the insurance industry, revealing he was in a “long running battle” with the ABI, and believed some insurers had failed to meet their commitments to victims of this summer’s floods.
In an exclusive interview, the MP for Sheffield Brightside, revealed he had been in talks with the ABI, which he believes should compel insurance companies to continue to offer cover in areas hit by the floods without raising premiums.
He said he had been “very disappointed” by the industry’s response to the floods and lambasted recent moves, spearheaded by the ABI, to raise premiums or withdraw cover altogether from flood-hit areas.
He said: “The whole business of insurance is about sharing risk - doubling premiums or even withdrawing the preparedness to cover that risk, I don’t think puts the industry in a very good light.”
He added that certain companies had failed his constituents, saying in some cases: “There has not been sufficient and urgent action and [there has been] a failure to understand what impact that has on businesses and on individuals, primarily by not following through what loss adjusters have done.”
