Letter to chancellor signed by Aviva’s Maurice Tulloch and others

Insurers have written to chancellor George Osborne asking for £500m more in flood defence spending, the Financial Times reports.

The letter, signed by Aviva UK chief executive Maurice Tulloch, NFU, and others said the additional spending is “crucial”.

Prime minister David Cameron pledged £150m in flood defence funding after the storms and flooding that hit the UK at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014.

But insurers said much of this was spent on repairing damage to infrastructure rather than on new defences, the Financial Times said.

Insurers claim the government cut spending on flood defences when it took power in 2010, slashing spending to £533m in 2013-2014 from £680m in 2010.

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