Healey - Pace of progress getting flood-hit families home improving

Published	18 June 2008

Floods Recovery Minister John Healey today said that thanks to the combined efforts of councils, housing associations, insurers and Government the pace of progress getting people back home following last summer's floods is picking up. But Mr Healey added that more remains to be done and Government will continue to do everything possible to help ensure this momentum is maintained.

The Minister published new figures showing that of those households out of their home a month ago around one in six (around one thousand) have now returned home - including one in four who were living in caravans. This 25 percent cut means there are now just over a thousand households living in caravans.

Around 4,700 households are still in temporary accommodation, living in caravans or the top floor of their homes - 48,000 homes were initially affected by the flood water. Despite the much wider scale flooding last summer this compares well with the 2005 floods in Carlisle where 1,925 homes and businesses were affected with one in ten displaced households still not back after 18 months.

Of those still not back home it is estimated that at least one in eight households do not have insurance. John Healey said 'this is a stark warning to the public as it shows not being insured can mean it takes longer to return home and be harder and more costly - the lesson from last summer's floods is that no one can afford not to have insurance'.

The Minister added that now is the time to widen the number of insurance products available and increase take-up - for example 'insurance with rent schemes' or 'budget' cover which would be provided at lower cost. Mr Healey also urged the public to take other precautions such as signing up to free early warning flood alerts and make their homes more resilient to future flooding where possible.

John Healey also paid tribute to thousands of insurance industry workers for their part in getting people back home in what he described as one of the biggest recovery operations since the Second World War. In particular:

The industry dealt with four years worth of bad weather claims in two months;
Drafting in an army of claims staff at short notice - including from as far away as the USA;
One insurer bought a fleet of 400 caravans to get their policyholders into temporary accommodation;
Insurers bought and installed kitchen units in the upstairs of those flooded homes that their customers did not want to leave;
The office of one loss adjuster in Leeds dealt with a year's worth of telephone calls in a single day;
One insurance company has allowed some households to keep the caravans they were living in temporarily.

Speaking at an Insurance Industry Conference John Healey said:

"Next week is one year on from the first of last summer's floods. Communities affected have been transformed over the last year and I pay tribute to all those who played their part in what has been one of the biggest recovery operations since the Second World War.

"Thanks to the combined efforts of councils, housing associations, insurers and Government the pace of progress getting people back home is picking up. Of those households out of their home a month ago around one in six are now back - including one in four who were living in caravans.

"Special mention should be given to insurance industry for their efforts. They mobilised thousands of loss adjusters at short notice to deal with over 180,000 claims - including bringing in staff from abroad - and found temporary housing for over 17,000 families. The leading companies rose to the challenge admirably. And councils and housing associations have also worked tirelessly to get their tenants back home. They now have around 170 families waiting to return home - compared to thousands last summer.

"But we are all crystal clear that more remains to be done and are committed to continue pulling out all the stops to get people home.

"The floods were a wake up call to us all. Government has already accepted all of Sir Michael Pitt's urgent interim recommendations and will respond fully to his final report due shortly. I know that the insurance industry is also committed to learn lessons.

"We estimate that at least one in eight households still not back in their home do not have insurance. Government provided over £18million to councils to help them support the most vulnerable in their communities over the last year. But the public also has a responsibility to do more to protect their properties and ensure they have adequate insurance in place. Taking out insurance may not always be everyone's top priority but a key lesson from last summer is you just can't afford not to - it can take longer to get repairs done and return home and be harder and more costly in the long run if you don't.

"But insurance also needs to be more accessible, more appropriate and more affordable. So now is the time for Government, councils, landlords and the insurance industry to redouble efforts to widen the number of products available and work to increase take-up. Where 'insurance with rent schemes' or other 'budget' cover have been made available and promoted in the past these have proved popular and led to good levels of take-up".

Notes to editors

Figures provided by local authorities show that at the end of May:

Number of those still out of their homes is 4,716 - down from 5,659 at the end of April;
173 of these are local authority or housing association tenants - only one in 27 of the total;
1,094 are living wholly or partially in caravans - cut by almost a quarter from April.

Information provided by local authorities setting out the total number of households still not fully back in their homes in each area as of 30 May 2008 is below.

This includes the number of households in each area waiting to return to local authority or other social housing and those living wholly or partially in caravans.