Insurer claims government must spend more to prevent flooding
Insurer urges government to spend more on flooding
Monday, 21 Jul 2008 17:04
AXA is calling on the UK government to invest an extra £700 million in flood prevention measures.
The insurer wants clear accountability and more money spent on drainage problems that cause flooding, on top of the £5 million the government has already announced.
David Williams, claims managing director, said: "More than 75 per cent of our flood claims in 2007 resulted from drainage issues.
"The cost of last year's floods to the UK insurance industry as a whole was around £3.4 billion, which reflects not only a huge financial burden that needs to be spread across insurance premiums, but also the tremendous suffering to policyholders that flooding causes.
"Prevention measures and increased investment could substantially reduce insurance claims and disruption to people's lives."
The insurance industry and the government reached an agreement earlier this month, after insurers threatened to withdraw flood protection unless action was taken to improve defences.
Although the government has pledged £800 million in 2010-2011 to prevent flooding, this is only for coastal and river defences and does not include tackling surface drainage, AXA said.
For this issue, the government has earmarked £5 million – but this only covers the cost of developing the plans, not for the action required, the insurer said.
Part of the problem is that it is not clear where the responsibility for improving surface drainage lies. AXA is advocating that local authorities should be made accountable for the infrastructure improvements required to prevent a repeat of last year's catastrophe.
Mr Williams added: "It is essential that the issues of who is responsible for the ownership and maintenance of sustainable drainage systems are identified and relevant funding put in place to ensure increased protection for the future."