Floods affect home insurance

Home insurance for many residents in flood-hit towns and villages across the UK is set to rise, as Norwich Union have announced they will increase domestic premiums next month, thisismoney.co.uk reported.

Norwich Union insist the fall-out from last month’s devastating floods is only an "element" of the reason they are putting up premiums, saying they had already made the decision before the recent deluge.

But this explanation will serve as no consolation to those homeowners with insurance in badly-hit areas, where some have already had to dig-in to savings as they count the cost of the floods.

Norwich Union has made an estimated £340 million in payouts to customers as a result of the crisis.

"For all insurance companies, this has been a problem and all are facing significant costs because of it," explained a Norwich Union spokesman.

"We need to make adjustments against a background of stable premiums for the last six, seven or even ten years."