The House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee will take evidence from Flood Re and the insurance industry on the affordability and availability of insurance for customers in flood risk areas and the impact of the government-backed Flood Re reinsurance scheme as part of its future flood prevention inquiry.

Brendan McCafferty, Chief Executive Officer, Flood Re and Mark Hoban, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Flood Re will appear before the Committee next week on Wednesday 15 June 2016.

Huw Evans, Director General, Association of British Insurers and Iain Hamilton, Head of Pricing and Underwriting, UK General Insurance for Personal Lines-Property, Aviva will also give evidence to the Committee.

 The session will explore a number of themes, including:

• How accessible is affordable insurance for customers in high flood risk areas?
• What are the impacts on householders and the market of the Flood Re scheme?
• Should similar schemes be developed for businesses and new builds?
• How can government and the industry prepare for the transition to the open market in 23 years when Flood Re expires?

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee launched its inquiry into future flood prevention in England following severe flooding this winter. The flooding affected many communities across the UK, costing more than £5 billion and disrupting thousands of peoples’ lives and businesses. Record rainfall was recorded in some areas and the consequent floods overwhelmed defences.

The Committee has separately already taken written evidence on four key topics:

Predicting the future: Are the Environment Agency and Met Office models that predict rainfall patterns and the likelihood of future floods fit for purpose - and do they correctly calculate the costs of future flooding to communities?

Protecting communities and infrastructure: How adequately do defences protect communities and agricultural land from floods and do current funding arrangements target spending in the right way?

Managing water flows: How effectively do Defra and the Environment Agency’s policies encourage innovative approaches to managing risk such as slowing the flow of water in urban and rural river catchment areas and promoting water storage?

Planning for floods: How well do planning policies ensure new buildings are not put in areas of high flood risk nor where they would increase risk to others – and how well do new developments incorporate sustainable drainage and flood-resilient buildings?

Waterbriefing is media partner with the Institution of Civil Engineers keynote Flooding and Water Management Conference 2016 taking place in London on Thursday 30th June. Click here  for more information about the conference.

Click here to join the Waterbriefing UK Flood Risk Management Discussion Group on Linkedin