Andrew Percy MP

Andrew Percy MP

Member of Parliament for Brigg & Goole and the Isle of Axholme

Flood Re Insurance Meeting

Andrew met with Flood Re recently to discuss the provision of flood insurance across the Brigg and Goole constituency. Flood Re was established by the Government in 2013 to ensure that residential properties in flood risk areas are provided with affordable flood insurance. This covers residential properties built before 2009 (as those afterwards should be built to higher flood standards) and provides insurance by spreading the cost of flood insurance for the most at risk properties across all policy holders.

Residents who are provided with cover by Flood Re will not necessarily know this as they access insurance via one of the normal insurance providers, with Flood Re providing the cover behind the scenes. Presently, over 1300 properties in the Brigg and Goole constituency received insurance via the Flood Re scheme. Without this scheme, they may well have been unable to access affordable insurance or possibly any cover at all.

Andrew met with Flood Re for an update on the scheme but to also discuss proposals for new government grants to provide flood protection works for homes. The meeting also covered the difficulties residents often have securing affordable cover following a flood event.

Andrew explains, "I was one of the MPs who sat on the parliamentary committee which brought this the Flood Re scheme into existence which is important to an area as at risk from flooding as ours. Since its creation, Flood Re has provided thousands of homeowners with cover that they may not otherwise have been to access.

Ironically, I had to leave one of the sittings of this committee in December 2013 to rush home to help support our communities being hit by the tidal surge which flooded hundreds of homes in our constituency.

The Government has recently announced a very welcome scheme to provide grants to homeowners for them to undertake environmentally friendly works on their homes, such as improved installation etc. We are introducing these grants not only to reduce energy consumption to fight climate change, but to also stimulate work in the economy as we try to recover from the devastation Covid-19 has caused to the economy.

Given this announcement, I am also proposing to Government that they look at expanding this scheme to cover flood protection works too, which are after all a result of climate change. Whilst the Government does provide up to £5000 for flood protection works to homes after a flood, I am keen to pursue support for property level flood protection measures for properties that have not been flooded but are most at risk of it.

In terms of residents who struggle to get affordable flood cover following a flooding event, the advice from Flood Re was not to simply accept a renewal quote, but to shop around. Comparison websites can be useful and work for most residents, but for those at most risk of flooding it can be useful to speak to an insurer directly or use a specialist broker. The British Insurance Brokers Association offer a not-for-profit broker finding service at https://insurance.biba.org.uk/find-insurance which I know some residents have found very useful."

Anyone wanting to learn more about Flood Re can visit https://www.floodre.co.uk/


PHOTO – Andrew previously meeting with representatives of Flood Re in Parliament.

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