Defra Announcements

Defra and EA Officials say climate change is to blame for catastrophic flooding, as suffered in Cockermouth and Workington, in Cumbria. Worse still, the figure is forecast to rise to about 850,000 properties at very high risk by 2035.

These are the homes expected to flood at least once in every 75 years, and under an existing agreement between the Government and insurers, anyone who has insurance on one of these properties will continue to be offered cover until 2013. The Statement of Principles agreed between the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Government states that insurers will: "Continue to offer flood cover to existing domestic property and small business customers at significant flood risk, providing the Environment Agency has announced plans and notified the ABI of its intention to reduce the risk for those customers below significant within five years.

The commitment to offer cover will extend to the new owner of any applicable property subject to satisfactory information about the new owner." While the agreement should ensure the insurance is transferred to the new owner, if the cover lapses before completion, they could find themselves uninsured, and would be considered a new customer, so no longer covered by the agreement.

Malcolm Tarling, spokesman for the ABI, said: "There is no cast-iron guarantee, because the agreement is designed to cover existing customers. The insurer would offer quotation terms to the new owner of an existing property. But if the policy had lapsed, you would have to go somewhere else as a new customer with a new policy. Then it would be up to the insurer as to whether it would provide a quote."