Home insurance companies have today warned that more than half a million homes in England may soon become uninsurable against floods. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) believes that in England there are 5170,000 homes that at risk of being severely flooded.

Last year’s floods in the UK cost insurance companies who are members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) around three billion pounds in claims. The association believe that insurers will not continue to insure people who live in high risk flooding areas unless the government takes significant steps in the prevention of future flooding., as the Association of British Insurers said in its review of floods that swallowed parts of the UK in June and July last year that:

"For flood cover to remain widely available, government action is needed to identify and better manage the threat of flooding," "Unless there is an overhaul in how flood risk is managed, insurers will find it increasingly difficult to offer flood cover in parts of the UK."

Flood cover has been standard for household insurance ever since the early 1960s. The cover was offered to consumers on the assumption that floods will not occur more than once in every 75 years, or that adequate flood defences are planned within the next five years if the flood risk is higher.

Last year though, the floods, which were the worst on record, had produced four years' worth of claims in just two months, with 180,000 claims for houses, businesses and cars. The ABI said that:

"Last year's floods were massive; they changed our perception of what is happening with flooding in this country," "We need to have a sense of urgency about dealing with flooding - we need to get a grip on this issue," he also added.

However, the minister of the Environment Phil Woolas said that it was unfair to suggest that nothing had changed as he said:

"A huge amount of work has been going on since the floods of last year, by the Environment Agency and local authorities, to put in place flood defence programmes."

He also mentioned that both of the agency and councils were now using their powers to restrict building on the flood plains. The Government have also announced that it would now bring forward a Flood Bill, in order to give the Environment Agency and councils more powers to prevent flooding in the areas of significant risk.

However the Association of British Insurers are warning that what was once freak incidents of flooding are now becoming more and more commonplace and they believe that not enough is known about how real the threat of flooding is, whether it be from rivers, drains or even the sea. They had also pointed out that two-thirds of last year's flooding came from surface water or sewage flooding.

However some action has been put into place, as The Environment Agency (EA) said it had completed thirty-four flood defences, which has helped over 30,000 homes, since last year's flooding. It has done so by mapping the country using a new laser system in order to help identify in detail those areas most at risk. But they did also mention that while homes were better protected, flood defences could only do so much.

Some 73,000 people have signed up for the EA's free flood warning service, but less than half of those eligible are registered, the agency said.:

"We believe that the Environment Agency in England should be given a strategic overview role for all types of flood risk - and when given clarity on this role and the role that local authorities will play, we can begin to advise on priorities for action."

Many now believe that planning for flooding should have the same priority as terrorism or flu prevention. Sir Michael Pitt who had conducted an inquiry about last years flooding also said that the public should have been better prepared for last summer's floods which saw about 13 people killed and 44,600 homes and 7,100 businesses flooded, with the damage caused costing £3billion.