In a sign the long-running public-private compact guaranteeing most UK consumers flood cover is starting to unravel, British insurers are at loggerheads with the Government over flood repairs.

Floods Recovery Minister John Healey has urged insurers to work with local government to “step up the pace of progress over the coming weeks and months” in organising repairs and returning people to their homes from temporary accommodation after floods last June.  The floods cost the industry an estimated £3.25 billion ($6.7 billion).

“I will continue to press the insurance industry to ensure claims are being processed and repairs made as quickly as possible,” Mr Healey said in a statement last week.

But the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has hit back at his claim that insurers should be doing more to help families in temporary accommodation.

ABI Director of General Insurance Nick Starling told the UK trade press insurers have consistently said it will take a year to rehouse families following the floods.