AA Insurance has asked the government to continue investing in flood defences as well as suggesting local councils should not approve building in high risk areas.
The floods of last year were exacerbated by the inability of the drainage systems to take the water away, aspects that the government can have a big say in. Around 180,000 claims were made last year following the floods said AA Insurance, costing insurers some GBP3 billion. There were also many people without home insurance who suffered as well, highlighting the need for both buildings and contents insurance to protect the most valuable assets people have.
Looking to the future there may be a situation where insurers like AA Insurance and others refuse to cover people for flood damage unless steps are taken to improve the defences available. Such a scenario would be a nightmare for homeowners of course. An alternative may be higher premiums, though the increase would be large in order to cover the potential risk, again leading to many consumers being unable to afford the cover they need.
Lloyds TSB has announced a new home insurance product for those aged 50 and over, with the option to tailor the protection to suit specific requirements.
This new Lloyds TSB insurance product acknowledges the many and varied needs of people so gives them the chance to opt in or out of different aspects of home protection. Standard cover includes fire, flood, subsidence and theft but on top these there are 21 other areas of household insurance that can be added if required to match the householders individual lifestyle.
A bank spokesman said that this alternative approach showed how well Lloyds TSB recognised the customers as individuals and that we all have different needs from home insurance.
Over 22 percent of families with children under five have had toys taken from outside their homes according to a Halifax home insurance survey.
The most common item to be taken was a childs bicycle, making up almost 1 in 5 of all home insurance claims from those surveyed. Prams and buggies were also a popular target for thieves, no doubt driven by the costs of such items being quite high. The advice from the Halifax insurance people is to put items away safely when not in use, using a garden shed or bringing them into the house.
A Halifax spokesman understood the potential difficulties of being able to put everything away at some times, especially during the Summer when children are in and out of the house all day, but it is worth doing to avoid the psychological stresses it can cause, even if they have contents insurance in place to cover the financial cost.
