Andy Bord, Flood Re’s Chief Executive, has today given oral evidence to an eminent House of Lords Select Committee which has been appointed to consider risk assessment and risk planning in the context of disruptive national hazards.
In the virtual session, Andy Bord made three key points to the Committee:
- Climate change is a real risk now: There needs to be a shift in the way climate change is discussed as it is happening right now, not at some point in the future. Climate change will mean increasing flood risk, especially surface water and flash flooding. Therefore, the Government must place as much emphasis in the future on adaptation as mitigation.
- The Government should support the introduction of Flood Performance Certificates (FPCs): The introduction of FPCs will be part of the solution to ensure there is a widespread and relatively rapid increase in the installation of property flood resilience (PFR) measures and can be central to realising the Government’s long-term objectives of creating a more resilient UK housing stock.
- Flood Re continues to make home insurance available and affordable for those living at risk of flooding: 95% of homes at risk of flooding can now obtain 15 or more quotes for their home insurance and four out of five people with a prior flood claim have seen a saving of 50% or more on their home insurance. Importantly, Flood Re means that even if you are flooded, you will be able to obtain affordable home insurance in the future.
Andy Bord, Chief Executive of Flood Re, said:
“I would like to thank the Lords Select Committee for inviting me today to give evidence to its session on risk assessment and planning.
“It was a valuable opportunity to discuss with leading experts what we believe needs to happen next. We need to ensure that we can tackle the growing threat of climate change, improve property flood resilience, and reach a risk-reflective home insurance market by the time the Scheme ends in 2039.
“I hope that the Committee and the Government find our recommendations both effective and practical – and I look forward to supporting in the implementation of these however we can.”
