ABI Requests for Flood Defences to Stop Insurance Price Growths

The Association of British insurers (ABI) wants the government to invest in flood defences, despite concentrating on spending cuts.

In the speech at the Local Government Flood Forum, ABI director Nick Starling, declared that the development of a long-term flood avoidance strategy maintained by appropriate investments is absolutely necessary if people’s homes and other properties are to be protected.

The ABI calculations show that for every pound spent on flood preventing activities is equal to 8 pounds saved for the UK economy.

By the agreement with the Government, the association is obliged to make flood insurance as widely spread as possible by 2013, but the state is to create a long-term flood prevention plan, to provide the necessary investments and to prohibit building new homes on high flood risk sites.

The ABI postulated that the average temperature increasing by two degrees would make annual insurance companies losses grow by almost 50 million pounds. The home insurance cost, in particular separate flood insurance costs may rise by more than 15%.