ABI issues warning as floods worsen

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said yesterday that the floods in Southern and Western England, still ongoing, could hit the industry for “hundreds of millions of pounds” in claims.

With flood levels at 60-year highs in places, and with waters still rising, the ABI made its sombre announcement based on calculations that the average business would claim £100,000, and the average home £15,000 to £30,000.

Last month’s catastrophic floods in the Midlands already carry an estimated £2 billion insurance bill, according to the association.

Gordon Brown, visiting Gloucestershire – the worst-affected area by the floods – today, told reporters that “what we saw here was a month’s rainfall in some places in an hour, something that was quite unprecedented, and put enormous pressure on water and the emergency services”.

The Financial Times estimates the average insurance payout for storm damage in a year as between £400 million and £800 million.

Tags: insurance bill, something, water, Gloucestershire, economics, United Kingdom, Southern, The Financial Times