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Government moves to reassure flood victims

Thursday, 5 June 2008 11:15 AM

The government has moved to reassure victims of last summer's flooding that everything is being done to return them to their property as soon as possible.

During June last year severe flood swept across areas of west England and Wales with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire particularly hard hit.

Some 48,000 people were displaced following the events, with the government revealing last month thousands are yet to return home.

"A huge amount has been achieved since last summer's floods with thousands of those affected back in their own homes," said floods recovery minister John Healey.

"But I am well aware that this is little consolation to those who are not. That is why I am working closely with the insurance industry to pull out all the stops."

Later this month marks one year on from the floods and Mr Healey is keen that, ahead of this, all homeowners are clear about when they will fully return home.

Last month the government published figures showing progress was being made getting people back home, with the numbers of households living in caravans falling by 40 per cent between March and April.

However, around 5,650 households were still not fully back home by the end of April.

In response Mr Healey praised local authorities and the insurance industry for the part they have played in this and called on everyone to continue to pull out all the stops over the next few weeks.

The insurance industry continues to keep its customers with claims outstanding fully informed, and by the first anniversary all will have had a full progress report and an indication of when they can expect to return home.

"So the commitment by insurers to contact all their customers with outstanding claims to update them on progress and how much longer they expect repairs to take is good news," continued Mr Healey.

"This means that ahead of the one year on date all those with insurance still out of their homes, living upstairs or in caravans will be clear about when they will fully return home.

"I am also making sure that local authorities do the same with their tenants. I hope they find this reassuring and it helps to reduce the worry that I know many households still face," he concluded.

Chris O'Toole

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