Home insurance premiums drop in Q1 2013

Home insurance premiums have continued to fall, despite growing concerns about the cost of flooding to insurers.

According to figures released by the AA, premiums for contents, home buildings and combined policies dropped during the first quarter of 2013, even though last year’s floods were thought to set insurance companies back £1.2 billion.

Buildings insurance was down 2.6 per cent over the three-month period, contents fell 1.7 per cent and combined policies were down 1.8 per cent.

Director of AA Insurance Simon Douglas said the downward trend is hiding wider regional variations, particularly for areas where lots of homeowners have experienced flooding.

“Flood-affected homes will have seen big premium increases, especially if they have suffered two or three flood claims,” he added.

These households are able to obtain insurance as a result of a statement of principles set up between insurers and the government, but this comes to an end in June this year and there are no plans yet to replace it.

More than 2,000 homes in Britain are at serious risk of flooding at present, while 1.2 million are at some risk.

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