5
Nov
Flooding to raise home insurance premiums
Home owners residing in areas of high flood risks are set to face
increasingly punitive home insurance payments, it has been
predicted.
Of 200 insurance professionals conducted by the Computer Science
Corporation (CSC) for its research, some 90 per cent said they
expected home insurance costs to increase in those areas worst hit
by the summer's floods.
Meanwhile, further upward pressure on insurance premiums will come
from the abandonment of the current policy whereby householders in
safe areas subsidise the cost of insurance for those in at-risk
regions, according to 61 per cent of the insurance experts
questioned.
John Maitz, vice president at CSC, told the Reuters news agency:
"For households on flood plains these developments augur very
poorly indeed."
Recent statistics show that around 2.2 million Britons live in
homes in areas with a high likelihood of flooding.
Flooding over the summer cost insurers up to £3 billion in
payouts to cover the damage caused, according to figures from the
Association of British Insurers.
