Flood Insurance: Reform of Flood Re

Sarah Bool Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

My hon. Friend knows that I share his love of nature-based solutions and natural flood management, so he will be as delighted as I am that we are putting a minimum of £300 million into natural flood management under our current plans.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

I think this is an important moment for us to remind all our constituents to check their insurance policies and make sure that they have sufficient cover, but on a practical note, may I ask whether the Minister expects the flood protection certificates to have the same status as energy performance certificates? Obviously that encourages improvement, but there may be a problem of stranded assets. I just want to be sure that we have thought about the impacts on the housing market and on social mobility.

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Lady is quite right. People should not only check their insurance to make sure that it covers everything, but check to ensure that they are covered for Build Back Better, because not every insurance company offers that cover at this moment. We will be piloting flood performance certificates as soon as possible, and as soon as they are ready I will be more than happy to update the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee with more details of exactly how this will work and where.