Flood Insurance: Reform of Flood Re

Debate between Ashley Fox and Emma Hardy

Wednesday 1st July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement, and for our recent conversations about flooding in Somerset.

Flooding is a huge challenge for areas across the country. Some 6.3 million properties in England are currently located in areas that are at risk of flooding, including many in my constituency. When floods occur, the Environment Agency, local volunteer groups and farmers work to help people quickly, often in difficult circumstances. I was humbled and deeply proud to see the way the community pulled together in affected areas during the flooding earlier this year, particularly in Moorland and Fordgate. The Minister knows how seriously I take flooding, and has engaged with me following my requests for stronger national support, clearer local responsibilities, more dredging and improved pumping capacity.

The previous Conservative Government took real action to prevent flooding and protect homes and businesses, ensuring that over 600,000 properties were better protected from flooding and coastal erosion. Between 2015 and 2024, over 900,000 acres of farmland were also protected. In 2020 the previous Government announced a doubling of capital funding for flood defences in England, which rose to £5.6 billion from 2021 to 2027.

Flood Re was set up under the former Conservative Government, and it remains an important scheme to promote the availability and affordability of flood insurance for eligible homes. Its recent accounts report contains serious warnings for Ministers. Flood Re is clear that

“the external environment has changed materially, with higher climate-driven loss volatility, tighter global reinsurance capacity and greater pressure on affordability.”

It says that the scheme is now retaining higher levels of risk and facing “increased liability exposure”. At the same time, Flood Re warns that the scheme is under structural pressure. Its board has said that improved flood mapping has led to

“more properties being classified as high risk…including a growing number of higher-value homes”,

and that without change, the scheme risks being asked to carry

“unsustainable levels of exposure and cost.”

As such, will the Minister please explain what steps she is taking to ensure that Flood Re’s growing pressures do not result in additional costs for households through higher insurance bills? Will Ministers bring forward a credible, long-term flood resilience plan? Do the Government have plans to include businesses in Flood Re? What assessment has the Department made of the impact of these changes on households that are asset-rich but income-poor, including pensioners living in higher-band homes in flood risk areas? In her statement, the Minister said that Flood Re would reform its premium model across council tax bands and regions. Will she publish the modelling behind those changes, including regional impacts, so that households can see what this means for them? Flood performance certificates may help households understand risk, but will the Minister confirm who will pay for them? Will they be mandatory, and will they affect mortgage availability?

Flood Re has done valuable work, but households continue to need affordable insurance. They also need a Government who are serious about flood prevention, resilient homes, and long-term protection for communities. Conservative Members will always work with the Government to ensure that every person living in a property that is vulnerable to flooding gets the support they need.

[Emma Hardy]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I recognise his commitment to flood protection. He referenced our meeting, at which we discussed the £50 million that we are putting into Somerset because of its particular landscape and challenges. He is right to highlight the accounts that Flood Re has produced; without reform or change, we would be in a poor situation. Flood Re has been an amazing success, but to continue for the next 10 years, it needs to change. That is why we are introducing the changes that I have mentioned: targeting those who most need support by introducing a cap, making contents cover cheaper for lower council tax bands, and the work on the premium model. One of the other changes, which is probably not as eye-catching, is allowing Flood Re access to some of its trapped capital to make reinsurance costs cheaper. All of the reforms that Flood Re is introducing are intended to ensure that it is sustainable and keeps going.

Turning to continued support for flood protection, the hon. Gentleman will know that we have put the most money into flood protection of any Government ever, with £10.5 billion committed for the next 10 years. There are no current plans to include businesses because, as I said, Flood Re works by levying every insurance company; if we were to include businesses, we would be levying every business in the country to pay for it. For people in the top council tax bands, we are looking at flood performance certificates, so that if they can take action to improve the resilience of their home, that will be reflected in their premiums. We are doing some pilots, and I have been pushing insurance companies and others to get those pilots out the door as quickly as possible. We are not just looking at the top council tax bands; we are also looking at people in social housing to see how flood performance certificates could work.

As for when these changes are going to take place, contents insurance changes will take effect from 2027, but the cap will be from 2028. Up until that period, Flood Re will be carrying out extensive engagement with insurers and other people to make sure they are setting affordable limits. This is all about ensuring that Flood Re is there for the next 10 years.

Flooding: Rural Communities

Debate between Ashley Fox and Emma Hardy

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

It is a pleasure to respond to the debate. I thank the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns) for initiating it, and for giving me an opportunity to outline the steps that the Government are taking to reduce flood risk and strengthen resilience in rural communities.

We began 2026 with record levels of rainfall in some parts of the country. Following Storm Chandra, I visited Somerset on 10 February with a Conservative Member, and witnessed the devastating impacts of flooding at first hand when one of the farmers took me in his tractor to see what had happened. What I saw could be described as flooding, but his farmland was basically under a lake. We had a good and helpful conversation about it, and I was particularly struck by what he said about the extra things that he did to support his community, in the way that the hon. Lady described. The farmers were there, helping people to go to the shops or to pick up their post. They were providing that additional service because they care about the communities of which they are part.

[Sir Ashley Fox]

I was grateful for the Minister’s visit to Somerset, but does she accept that when the Environment Agency announces that it is withdrawing from main river maintenance and will stop dredging the River Parrett, that is exactly the sort of action that contributes to the devastating flooding that she witnessed?

[Emma Hardy]

I will not make this about Somerset, I promise, but we had a very good conversation with the Environment Agency, the internal drainage boards and members of the council during that visit. We talked about the use of temporary pumps when a threshold is met, and discussed whether the threshold needs to be re-evaluated. Some really positive work is being done, with people looking into what has happened and what needs to be done. I hope that we shall be able to say a bit more about that in the coming weeks, but it was a very useful conversation. There was a willingness around the table to think about how we could get it right in an area that is very difficult and challenging to deal with because it is so flat, and relies so much on the use of pumps to move water around. The question of maintenance was discussed as well.

I want to acknowledge the vital work of local authorities, emergency services, members of the internal drainage boards, the voluntary community, the faith sector, and others who responded to the floods in Somerset, Dorset and other locations. The good news is that 24,500 properties were protected by the Environment Agency, but that, of course, is little consolation for the people whose properties were flooded. I also want to express my personal sympathies to all those who have been affected.

On Monday we held our sixth meeting of floods resilience taskforce, which is a fantastic group that brings everyone together. It includes the internal drainage boards, but also the Association of British Insurers, Flood Re and the flood action groups, which bring lived experience of flooding to the conversations. We bring everyone together for the flood action groups, and then there are task groups who go off and do work between the big meetings, such as looking at the experience of people from the point at which their properties have been flooded to the point at which they return to their properties. One of the questions that I want to ask is, “Where are the pain points along the way, and where are the difficulties?”

Once this is all set up and official, I should like all Members to feed in their experiences so we can identify the difficult points. I had a great conversation with Aviva last Thursday when I went to visit a house that had been improved through Build Back Better. Those people had had a wonderful experience, following the devastating thing that had happened, but we know that that is not universal.