Pangbourne residents meet insurers over flood concerns

Residents of the Berkshire town of Pangbourne have met with insurance industry representatives to air their concerns over the potential for the town to be flooded.

Pangbourne was badly hit by heavy floods in 2007 and many residents are worried that not enough has been done to alleviate the risk of a repeat of the disaster if heavy rainfall is seen again, according to the BBC.

The government previously announced residents in areas that have benefited from flood reduction schemes backed by the coalition have to be covered by flood insurance plans from large companies such as Admiral or AXA.

However, this deal was meant to be temporary and has run out, while talks to replace it have not begun, prompting criticism from Pangbourne residents.

Amanda Davies, from the National Flood Forum said: “We’re getting hundreds of phone calls a month from people … being told that their insurance premiums are going up or that their company no longer wishes to insure them.”

The 2007 floods in Pangbourne left dozens of people homeless for a number of weeks, with many unable to return to their water-damaged homes for months.

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