Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make funding available to support businesses that have not been able to claim insurance following flood damage in winter 2021-22.

The Government recognises the impact that flooding incidents have on communities and sympathises with those affected. Whilst some communities have been badly affected, we have thankfully not seen the severe, widespread impacts that were forecast.

The Government Flood Recovery Framework is typically only activated where severe weather with significant impacts has occurred across multiple local authorities. The Framework is run by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and activation of the framework is an agreement made across Government.

Businesses in high flood risk areas can shop around for the best insurance quote and could consider using an appropriate broker. There are already several innovative products being offered to businesses by the industry such as the British Insurers Brokers Association scheme to help small and medium-sized enterprises and provide flood cover for those that are ineligible for Flood Re. Other innovative solutions include insurers who offer increased flood excess with reduced premiums, and parametric insurance which allows property owners to set the level of premium in line with an agreed level of risk.

Defra is working with the insurance industry and the wider commercial sector to help businesses become more resilient to flooding, through the joint government and industry Property Flood Resilience (PFR) roundtable and through the development of a PFR roadmap by the end of 2022.