The government has restated its intention not to act as insurer of last resort after flooding.
In the House of Lords, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Lord Whitty, was asked by Baroness Knight if the Government will "take on some responsibility as regards the poor people whose properties are flooded because of the lack of defences?"
Lord Whitty said: "The Government have a major responsibility in relation to flood defences and dealing with floods. It is not, however, the Government's job to be the insurer of last resort in those or any other circumstances.
"In the recent spending review the Government committed to flood defences the sum of money which the ABI, on behalf of the insurers, indicated was the amount that was needed for them to be able to make the kind of statement to which I referred which covers the vast majority of properties in the flood plain."
