After the meeting, Floods Recovery Minister John Healey, said;
"Today marks 100 days on from the first floods that hit large parts of the country earlier in the summer. These floods caused devastation and misery for thousands of people. As Floods Recovery Minister, my top priority has been helping life in flood-hit communities get back to normal as quickly as possible. A huge amount has already been achieved but the process of flood recovery is a long one, which for many households and communities will carry on well into next year. That is why Ministers today met with the ABI to discuss the work that the insurance industry has done to ensure the recovery from the floods continues as quickly as possible.
"It was a very useful meeting where the ABI said that out of a total of at least 130,000 claims, by the end of August one in five of household claims had been settled and 10% of business claims. While awaiting updated figures they expect this now to have reached around 25% of households and 15% for businesses. They also reported virtually all motor claims have been settled.
"While I appreciate this will be of little comfort to those still living in temporary accommodation it does show real progress and I want to thank the industry for their efforts to date, and they made clear their commitment to maintain this momentum over the coming months.
"Over the last few months there have been a number of reports in the media about areas being blacklisted for flood related insurance cover and insurance renewals refused. The ABI today confirmed to us that no areas have been blacklisted, existing cover has not been withdrawn in any area and there is no evidence that policy renewals are being refused. I hope this will give households and businesses reassurance in the face of such reports. The Government will continue to work with the industry to ensure this remains the case.
"A full lessons learned review of the floods is currently being conducted. This will include consideration of insurance issues such as how we encourage those affected by flooding to make their property more resilient to flooding. Also how we ensure businesses undertake proper business continuity planning and make a full assessment of their insurance needs.
"Since the floods the Government has so far made available a comprehensive package of up to £57 million to assist the affected areas and help those in greatest need, including funding for schools, transport and businesses. And we will do more to help councils as they complete their full assessment of damage. Hilary Benn has also announced that funding flood and coastal erosion risk management will increase to £800 million by 2010-2011. Over the coming weeks and months Government will continue to work closely with local agencies as well as the insurance industry to ensure everything possible is being done to get life back to normal and everyone back in their homes as quickly as possible. This won't happen overnight but everyone is in this for the long haul."
