On Monday this week, a debate was held in the House of Lords on the Flood Insurance Regulations (2025), which considered changes to Flood Re’s Levy 1. Flood Re is a reinsurance scheme, which helps to improve the availability and affordability of household insurance for people living at the highest risk of flooding. Insurers pass the flood risk element of the insurance policy to Flood Re, which reimburses the insurer if a claim is made. The scheme is funded through an insurance industry levy, which insurers sometimes pass on to consumers through higher general premiums. Due to recent inflationary pressure, Flood Re has proposed to increase the levy to allow it to purchase necessary reinsurance and continue to operate. Policy Connect supports this proposed change. 

Bricks and Water Chair, Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, took part in this debate and kindly drew the Minister’s attention to Policy Connect’s recent report, Bricks and Water: flood and coastal erosion risk management policy for a new Government. Baroness McIntosh went on to set out the recommendations relevant to the use of Property Flood Resilience Measures (PFR), which included: 

• Allowing the installation of both resistance and resilience measures as part of property flood resilience schemes funded by the Environment Agency.
• Review of the eligibility criteria and distribution process for the Property Flood Resilience Repair Grant Scheme to make it more widely accessible and streamlined.
• Alignment of all PFR funding sources (including Flood Re’s Build Back Better scheme ) to the same amount at £15,000.
• Updating Part C of building regulations to require the installation of basic property flood resilience measures for properties at risk of flooding, and the installation of very basic, ‘no regret’ measures for all new homes, irrespective of risk. 

Meanwhile in the House of Commons, vice Chair to the Bricks and Water inquiry, Blake Stephenson MP has submitted several Parliamentary Questions, scrutinising the Government’s recent announcement to invest £2.65 billion between now and 2026 for building and maintaining flood defences. 

You can watch the Lords debate here: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/989da0e0-cdb6-4317-b457-f6cb139ec2b5.

Blake Stephenson’s Parliamentary Questions are available via the links below: 

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-03-04/35441.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-03-04/35442.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-03-04/35443.