?The government has admitted that it has applied for relief aid to the European Commission, after the floods in June and July .
The ABI said about 45,000 households and 14,500 businesses had made insurance claims following the UK’s worst flooding in more than a half-century.
The cost of the damage is estimated at £3bn.
John Healey, floods recovery minister, said an application for funding from the European Union Solidarity Fund has been submitted to help with the costs of repairs.
“This process may take up to a year. If successful we would only receive a proportion of the total cost.”
To apply to the fund, member states must show proof that a natural disaster has caused more than €3bn (£2.04bn) worth of damage.
Flooding in northern England in June caused £1.5bn worth of damage and damaged 24,000 homes. Downpours in July across central and southern England cost the same amount and struck 15,500 homes.
The period from May to July was the wettest since records began in 1766.
Counting the cost of flooding
Total cost of flooding: approaching £3bn
Total number of claims: almost 60,000
Total domestic claims: 45,000
Total commercial claims: 14,500
Cost of June floods: £1.5bn
June domestic claims: 27,500 (average cost £30K)
June commercial claims: 7,000 (average cost £90K)
Cost of July floods: almost £1.5bn
July domestic claims: 17,500 (average cost £40K)
July commercial claims: 7,500 (average cost £90K)
Source: ABI
