Home insurance warning over government flood defences

The government must spend on flood defences so home insurance firms are able to continue offering cover for such events, one expert has claimed.

According to Graeme Trudgill, technical and corporate affairs executive for the British Insurance Brokers Association, lasts summer's floods cost home insurance firms around £3 billion.

This means that if more is not done to reduce the risk and scale of such incidents, it will not be economical for home insurance firms to continue offering cover, he stated.

It does absolutely depend on the government to play their part, which I don't think they have done as well as they could have done, Mr Trudgill said.

The threat of climate change means home insurance firms fear they will be paying out many more claims for flooding in the future, he added.

Yesterday, Abbey Home Insurance warned people to be on their guard as the economic downturn could see an increase in the number of burglaries .