Morpeth to host national conference on flood insurance

MORPETH will host a national conference in a bid to draw up new flood insurance guidelines.

A working group was set up by Morpeth Town Council earlier this year to investigate the issue following complaints that some flood victims were facing soaring premiums and excesses.

A number of parties were involved in the work, including the Morpeth Flood Action Group (MFAG) and the Morpeth and District Chamber of Trade.

Now a report on their findings and suggestions has been sent to the National Flood Forum to be circulated around the country.

Proposals could see a portion of all insurance premiums going into a central pot for flood incidents, set up by the Government and administered by a separate agency, to ensure uniform treatment.

It is hoped that other flood-hit or at-risk communities will add their comments to create a common view.

And an official policy for the forum is expected to be endorsed at a national conference in Morpeth Town Hall in October.

It would then be used as the basis for discussions with the Government and the insurance industry at a summit later in the year.

Working Group Chairman David Parker said: "This is of direct benefit to a number of people in the town and an indirect benefit to everyone else. It isn't a marginal issue, it is right at the heart of the life of the town.

"There are a lot of communities affected because if particular groups were directly affected by flooding in any particular location, especially more than once, and the insurance excesses start to escalate then the viability of those towns and villages and bigger communities is put at risk.

"You can imagine the impact in Morpeth if 900 homes were flooded again. It isn't just a question of how those residents would cope with that, but if those people have to abandon the area, which is not an exaggeration if it happens more than once or twice, it affects everything.

"In no way are we saying in this town that we think that is likely to happen because we are taking action, but it could happen if no action is taken. Quite properly in Morpeth we are taking a very pro-active stance on this."

He added: "We know that a huge number of communities are affected by flooding and we are assuming that the assumptions we are making about the issues will resonate with their experiences.

"We haven't got that confirmed yet because we haven't consulted, but we are provisionally assuming that and if it is true then my guess is that we will get a reasonable response from communities and people will want to come to the conference."

Morpeth Town Council's Finance and General Purposes Committee agreed to underwrite the conference up to a maximum of £200, but small admission charges will be applied to try to cover the cost.

Proposing the sum, Coun. Richard Thompson said: "I think it is an excellent thing to support.

Source document http://www.morpethherald.co.uk/news/Morpeth-to-host-national-conference.6380604.jp