Politician reacts with fury following evidence of rate hikes for flood hit homes in Hull
Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson claims some flood risk homes are being refused cover while others are being hit by 500% premium increases.
Johnson said: “People feel really angry. I’ve had people on Bransholme telling me that they’ve now got insurance quotes of over £1,000 for their properties to be insured. Excesses have gone up to about £3,000 and in one case - £6,000.
“So there’s quite a lot of evidence of the insurance market in Hull not being open.”
According to the BBC, she called on insurers to shoulder the responsibility for flood homes.
“As long as the government is committed to providing money for flood defences then the insurance industry should take their responsibility seriously as well and provide reasonable cover for people in Hull at a reasonable cost,” he said.
Heather Sheppard, from the National Flood Forum, said: “It’s something that we’re addressing with Defra and the insurance industry in the flood summits held by government at the moment to see what we can do to try and solve this problem.
“At the moment there’s an agreement between the government and the insurance industry to provide insurance for people as long as there is investment in flood defences across the country.
“This agreement will not be replaced in 2013 so it leaves everybody very vulnerable after this time as regards to insuring their homes.”
Matt Cullen, of ABI, said: “Insurers have to be able to ensure that they’re not going to make a significant loss on the whole portfolio of flood risk that they cover.
“Obviously when flood risk gets high insurers have to be careful and make sure that they’re thinking about insurance very carefully when they offer it.”
No comments yet