Government pledges to beat flooding as insurance availability continues

Friday, November 11, 2005

Following news that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) is to continue to make flood insurance available where risk is properly managed, the government has declared that it is devoted to improving flood defences around the country.

Environment and climate change minister Eliot Morley welcomed the ABI's announcement and also offered that the government will work in alliance with this to reduce the impact of floods.

"Action taken under the government's flood management programme has supported the operation of a successful ABI Statement of Principles since 2003," Mr Morley said.

"Today's revised statement represents a combined commitment from the government and from the insurance industry to maintain and improve protection for people and their property from the impacts of flooding."

Initiatives to make people more aware of flooding dangers, reduce the annual probability of flooding each year and prevent further building from increasing flood risk are all being integrated by the government.

However, Mr Morley also said the property owners themselves still have a part to play: "There is a responsibility on all of us to take what action we can to reduce our exposure to the damaging effects of flooding, which can never be completely eliminated, for example by becoming more aware of the risk and taking action to protect our possessions and make our homes more resilient."