Insurer boost as governmment gives £2.9m for flood protection projects

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Flood Re chief executive calls the new funding a “welcomed step forward”

The government announced on Monday that it will provide £2.9m in funding to projects to allow them to make better provisions of flood defences.

Projects in Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, and Central England will all receive around £700,000 each to boost research into property level measures.

This will allow new research initiatives, demonstration centres and advice portals which will communicate the benefits of installing property flood resilience measures.

Environment minister Thérèse Coffey said: “I am delighted to award funding to the pathfinder flood resilience projects in the Ox-Cam arc, Yorkshire and the South West.

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I expect the councils and organisations involved will increase the take up of property resilience measures by home owners and businesses, making their properties safer, and quicker to return to if flooding does happen.

Flood Re reaction

Flood Re has reacted positively to the new funding, with chief executive Andy Board calling it “a welcomed step forward”.

He said: “The Government’s £2.9m investment in flood resilience projects across England is a welcomed step forward in improving the take-up of resilience measures for homes in flood-prone areas. This is important so that homes can reduce the risk of, or damage caused by, flooding.

“Flood Re is designed to end in 2039 and so ensuring that households in high flood-risk areas invest in resilience measures will help the home insurance market to function effectively, with affordable premiums for at-risk homes.”

Flood Re recently completed a review, and Board outlined the findings, and how this funding is needed to help bring those proposed measures to fruition.

“In our recently published Quinquennial review, which looks at the steps needed for an affordable home insurance market by the time Flood Re ends, we highlighted the importance of encouraging more properties across the UK to be made resilient to flooding.

“We hope that valuable lessons are learnt from these Pathfinder projects, which can be applied more broadly across the UK and help improve our understanding of encouraging take-up.”