Damage from the floods in Cumbria and south Scotland could cost insurers more than £100m, to encourage a swift response to claims over flood-damaged properties in Cumbria, the Government has promised to meet insurance firms.
It comes as licensees of flood-hit pubs in the region turn their minds to making claims following the devastating floods in the past few days.
Environment Minister Hilary Benn was asked by Labour MP Derek Twigg if he is “confident that insurance companies will actually pay up quickly?”
Twigg added: “Will his officials meet insurance companies to put pressure on them to pay up quickly to the people concerned?”
Benn promised ministerial meetings with insurance companies, like those after the summer 2007 floods.
“To give an example of the quick response by one insurance company, when I visited the rest centre in Cockermouth for the second time on Saturday, one insurance company had already turned up and was dealing with people’s claims there and then.
“That shows how it is possible to respond. Insurance companies are very conscious of the need to help people to deal with their claims as quickly as possible, but I can assure [Twigg] that we will follow that point up.”
Conservative MP Angela Watkinson said: “Business and home owners, and not just in the current flood-damaged area but in other flood-risk areas, will be concerned about their prospects of obtaining buildings and contents insurance.
“Could he urge [the insurance industry] to ensure that there is comprehensive advice and information about people’s future insurance arrangements, and not just compensation for the current damage?”
Benn said “I will certainly do that” and promised that Rosie Winterton, Minister for Regional Economic Development and Co-ordination, “will follow it up in her conversations with the insurance companies”.
Yesterday the Morning Advertiser reported that just five of the 14 pubs in Cockermouth, the town hit hardest by the floods, remain fully functional after the deluge.
