Government claims property insurers have forced “crippling costs”

Government claims property insurers have forced “crippling costs”

Property insurers have forced “crippling costs” on residents of high-rise and mid-rise apartment blocks following the Grenfell disaster, the government says.

In a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority, which will lead a review of the problem, Housing Secretary Michael Gove explains the steps the government has taken to improve safety and reduce risks.

The measures include guidance on which high-rise blocks were now safe and a “polluter pay” approach that asks developers to contribute to the remediation costs of the still-unsafe cladding.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: “Despite this progress and the continuing decrease in the instances of fire in multiple-occupancy buildings, building insurance premiums have increased dramatically for almost all leaseholders in blocks of flats”

“The market lacks transparency and there is not currently useful data to explain the rationale behind the increasing premiums charged by insurers and the conditions associated with the cover”