General Insurance Article - Flood Re backs almost 130,000 policies in its first year

 It shows that 127,326 policies have benefited from being backed by Flood Re since it was launched on 4 April 2016.

 Flood Re made a pre-tax profit of £130m for the year having collected £180m levy income and a gross written premium of £28m. Its operating and administrative expenses were £15.7m. Flood Re’s invested and liquid assets were £157m and its net assets (IFRS) were £98m.

 Relatively benign weather since the Scheme’s launch has resulted in few claims being made.

 Andy Bord, Chief Executive of Flood Re, said: “We’re encouraged by the number of policies that we have backed since launch and the significant increase in both affordability and availability of flood insurance.”

 “Additionally, Flood Re’s profitability demonstrates careful management of the Scheme and will allow us to build up its reserves for future flooding events and reduces the likelihood of having to call an additional levy. Although there have not been any events on the scale of the 2015-16 winter flooding since Flood Re’s launch, we remain ready for the future.”

 Recent research revealed that Flood Re has succeeded in bringing more choice to flood affected communities in its first year in operation.

 The statistics show that, since the introduction of the scheme, four out of five householders with previous flood claims saw a reduction in the price of available quotes of more than 50%.

 They also revealed that, before the introduction of Flood Re, only 9% of householders who had made prior flood claims could get quotes from two or more insurers, with none being able to get quotes from five or more.

 Now, 95% of those households that had previously made flood claims have access to two or more quotes and 84% can get quotes from five or more insurance providers.