Environment Agency’s Lord Smith wants financial incentives
Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, has said insurers should offer householders and businesses financial incentives to install flood defences on their properties, the FT reports.
"You in the insurance industry are able to provide financial incentives that we cannot give, incentives that can help to change the way people respond to the dangers they face [from flooding]," he said.
Britain was suffering "a new kind of rain" as a result of climate change, Lord Smith said. "We are having to come to terms with rain that falls in huge quantities, all at once, in one place. With climate change we are likely to see this happening with increasing frequency. The impact on rivers, coastal areas and, above all, on hard-pressed drainage systems can be severe."
ABI confused
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said its members offered incentives in the form of higher excesses, and in some cases made installing flood defences a condition of getting insurance.
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