Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his oral contribution of 30 January 2023 on Building Safety, Official Report, column 55, whether he has had discussions with insurance companies that have increased premiums for leaseholders awaiting cladding remediation.

The Government is committed to making sure that buildings insurance costs are fair and transparent, and that leaseholders have confidence in challenging costs where necessary. Insurers must price risk in a responsible manner. It is clear from the Financial Conduct Authority reports into this market that leaseholders have not always been getting the service that they should, and this must change.

The Association of British Insurers is developing a scheme for buildings with fire safety risks experiencing particularly high premiums. I have engaged regularly with the industry to monitor the progress of the scheme. We have made clear that we expect the scheme to be delivered as soon as possible.

The Government has also committed to ban commissions paid to brokers or other third parties on buildings insurance from being passed on to leaseholders through their service charge, replacing this with more transparent fees. We are pressing relevant parties to urgently consider their charging mechanisms ahead of government reform. The Financial Conduct Authority has recently consulted on changing its rules to increase transparency for leaseholders and ensure insurers and insurance brokers apply fair value to their policies, an initiative which I strongly welcome.

We will continue to work with the insurance sector to restore confidence in building safety and a return to proportionate premiums and products.