Low-cost Insurance for Londoners to be Developed

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has reported the start of work on a long-awaited scheme, aimed at the provision of low-cost contents insurance to the residents of London, living in social housing. The Association of British Insurers is working on the scheme in cooperation with Aviva, an insurance company, and Aon, an insurance broker, and plans to hold negotiations with London housing associations and City’s local authorities as part of the development of the insurance schemes. The latest statistics from ABI suggests that more than 750,000 people, living in social or local authority housing, face a significant risk of robbery and/or crime. Data shows that these households are 2 times more likely to experience burglary and 30% more likely to face damage by arson. Unfortunately, these “social households” are less likely to be insured than any others across the United Kingdom. Statistics shows that 4 out of 10 people living in social homes are unprotected. Mr. Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health at the Association of British Insurers claimed that a great number of low-income Londoners are barely able to access such basic financial products as contents insurance. This, in addition to their low incomes, makes it difficult for them to plan their future expenses as the families are left open to various unwelcome events. He added that if the ABI scheme on low-cost contents insurance, which aims to help landlords provide their vulnerable tenants with an affordable insurance, is put to work, low-income Londoners will get the financial protection they’ve been looking for. The Environment Agency has recently urged social landlords, including local authorities, to provide tenants with contents insurance by including it into rent. The UK Government has addressed the issue of low-cost contents insurance in its latest assessment of flood risk across England.