A government-backed reinsurance scheme designed to offer flooding insurance to homeowners and renters in high risk areas has announced a series of major reforms to mark 10 years since it launched.
The new measures are designed to cut costs, strengthen flood resilience and ease the transition until the end of Flood Re, a reinsurance scheme backed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Challenges facing householders include climate change increasing the frequency and severity of flooding, and rising costs of insurance. The government says the environment Flood Re operates in has also changed, and the reforms are intended to help it remain “fair and sustainable”.
Flood Re says it will more than halve premiums for contents-only policies in Council Tax Bands A and B from £52 to £25 from April 2027, for both homeowners and renters.
It will also introduce Flood Performance Certificates, premium discounts for resilient homes, and expand its Build Back Better programme to help households recover stronger after flooding. These changes will be implemented by 2028.
Flood Re receives a subsidy paid for by households. That money is used to purchase insurance so that households that would not be able to get insurance in an open market can access affordable premiums.
Bridget Rosewell, chair of Flood Re, said: “For 10 years, Flood Re has helped ensure that households at greatest risk of flooding can access affordable insurance and the peace of mind that comes with it. That is an achievement everyone involved in the scheme can be proud of.”
She added: “Climate change means we must go further than affordability alone. Through measures such as Flood Performance Certificates and Build Back Better, we are helping households become more resilient before flooding happens – supporting a stronger, more sustainable flood insurance market for the future.”
Floods Minister Emma Hardy MP said: “Flooding is truly devastating, turning lives upside down and leaving families facing enormous uncertainty – making access to affordable insurance even more vital.
“Over the past decade, Flood Re has transformed that access. Before, many faced unaffordable premiums or could not secure insurance at all, but thanks to this initiative access is now universal, even in the highest-risk areas.
“Under these new reforms, this government is working with Flood Re and industry to further evolve our approach.”
Flood Re launched in 2016 and is set to end in 2039.
