City at risk from exclusion in flood cover policies

Leading insurers are considering removing the City of London from their flood cover policies if the government does not start investigating in adequate flood defences.

That is according to Lloyd’s broker Aon as forecasts of heavy rain this summer coupled with insufficient flood protection systems could potentially see the city becoming an uninsurable region.

The city itself is situated outside the highest risk areas but key transport links - trains, tubes and buses – run through high flood risk zones south of the Thames which could grind the city to a halt.

Aon has joined forces with the City Property Association (CPA) to urge the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to take action against this.

Bill Gloyn, Chairman of real estate Europe at Aon Mergers & Acquisitions Group and recently elected President of the CPA, said: “Naturally, the mayor has focused on the vote attracting issues of crime, affordable housing and the environment but a major flood would affect thousands of homes and could bring our financial centre to a standstill through the lack of transportation.

“The disastrous impact of a potential flood on London business demands serious attention and an urgent increase of investment in the flood defence infrastructure that protects our capital.

“Mr Johnson also needs to be aware that flood disruption will be exploited by other cities keen to undermine the supremacy of London as the world’s leading financial centre. Any major flood in central London would be disastrous for not only the city but for the UK economy as a whole.”

The Environment Agency are clearly aware of the potential damage that the UK would face from another year of disastrous flooding, so proposals to prevent this have been put into place through the agency’s white paper, ‘Thames Estuary 2100’.

It states that flood management options for the city may include some scope for the set back of defences, sustainable urban drainage and increasing the use of the Thames Barrier.

Darren Johnson, Green Party Member and Chair of the Environment Committee said: “Ensuring that there is adequate flood protection in London is a matter of great significance. East London is not protected by the Thames Barrier which does raise concerns. What we need to do is avoid building on high risk areas, like Thames Gateway and protect these flood plains that are being built on.

“The impact of climate change is having an increasing affect us so rather than constructing more concrete buildings to deal with the threat of flooding, a natural drainage system would be better for the city. There is a real need for green open spaces so this way we would kill two birds with one stone. If there is major flooding in central London it would have a catastrophic effect on public transport which cost the capital billions of pounds.

“The new mayor, Boris Johnson will have to take a long hard look at Thames Gateway, to make sure that proper attention is paid to this area. It is clear that something needs to be done but at this stage we don’t know where the money will come from. We know what solutions are needed but what we don’t want is years of arguing with reference to who will pay for it and it never gets done.

“We are still in the process of a series of different consultations which have yet to become formalised but it is absolutely crucial that something gets done.”