Flood Re welcomes UK Government’s plan to inject over £5.2bn into scheme

The UK government has announced a record £5.2 billion investment to tackle the risks of flooding and coastal erosion, and make the country more resilient to future flooding.

Flood Re, the UK Government's scheme to pool flood risk, has welcomed the move, calling it a "necessary step towards building flood resilience and mitigating the impact of climate change".

The measures laid out in the proposals include the investment of £5.2 billion to create around 2,000 new flood and coastal defences to better protect 336,000 properties in England by 2027.

Flood Re also welcomes the specific changes to the Scheme, as proposed in Flood Re’s Quinquennial Review (QQR), which was published in July 2019. These changes include giving Flood Re the ability to offer discounted premiums to households that have fitted flood resilience measures to their property, such as airbrick covers or non-return valves. They will also permit the payment of claims to include an additional amount to 'Build Back Better', in a more flood resilient way.

Flood Re believes these amendments will help to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme and will ultimately assist in the scheme’s transition out of the market by 2039.

Andy Bord, chief executive of Flood Re, said: “I welcome the Government’s commitment today to making the nation more resilient to future flooding. Flood Re enables access to affordable insurance for hundreds of thousands of homes at high risk of flooding. We believe it is very important that the country is built back better and making homes more resilient through the uptake of property flood resilience adaptations is a key part of addressing the increasing threat of flooding resulting from climate change.”