Government and insurers aim to provide cover for flood-hit homes

A new agreement struck between the Government and the insurance industry could help many flood-hit East Yorkshire households get cover.

The Government has committed itself to a long-term 25 year strategy to improve flood defences, according to Environment Minister Phil Woolas.

This will include defending against surface water flooding, which was the main cause of last year's June floods in Hull and the East Riding.

It is hoped this will see insurers guarantee to provide protection to more properties that are at risk from flooding.

It comes after the insurance industry refused to guarantee cover unless the Government invested more money in flood prevention work.

Mr Woolas said: “The insurance companies very reasonably said that it is necessary to have a long-term strategy – 25 years is the figure that we are going ahead with.

“We are looking at coastal flooding as well as river flooding and surface water flooding to ensure that the increased investment that we have – and we have increased investment in flood defences quite substantially in this country - is sustained in the long term.”

The Mail's Play Fair campaign has been pushing for competitive cover for all households, whether they were flooded or not.

The campaign follows a Mail investigation that found insurers were blacklisting thousands of East Yorkshire properties by refusing to take on any new policies for flood-hit homes. The firms were also hiking premiums for existing policyholders – even if they were not flooded.