Insurers paid out £650m this winter

During the heavy snow and freezing temperatures that gripped Britain during December 2009 and January this year, insurers paid out:

• £395m to insured motorists. Many of the 268,400 motor insurance claims were for accidental damage as motorists struggled on slippery roads.
• £255m to homeowners and business customers for property damage. The 66,600 claims was double the number of weather damage claims insurers would normally expect to see during the period. Of these, the majority - 60,200 - involved homes, at a cost of £194m. A typical claim involved roof damage caused by the snow.

Nick Starling, the ABI's director of general insurance and health, said: "Insurers will always respond quickly to the large number of claims that often result from bad weather.

"From dealing with snow damaged roofs, burst pipes, to repairing or replacing vehicles damaged by treacherous driving conditions, insurers helped their customers get through the snow and the freezing temperatures.

"Insurers have paid out nearly £1bn to customers following bad weather this winter, as the heavy snow came weeks after the flooding in Cumbria, which led to insurers paying out £200m in flood claims."

Complaints

There will still be complaints. Local builders in Cumbria didn't get the work to repair local homes and businesses. Some people will still believing in caravans while their homes dry out, and so on.

No doubt every insurer made a huge mistake with at least one customer, forgot them, didn't call them back, took too long. Insurers are all as imperfect as the humans who work for them. And they're much more efficient than the government would be.

At the end of the day, insurance provides a massive service, taking people at often their very lowest and trying to return them to the position they were in before the tragedy. I'd rather be insured than uninsured.

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