According to an Association of British Insurers (ABI) spokeswoman, the bill from flooding in recent days across the central counties of Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire is likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds. This is on the heels of an estimated bill of 1.5 billion pounds from flooding in June that hit central and northern England and caused chaos in the cities of Sheffield and Hull, the ABI said.
"We could see claims in excess of 2 billion pounds," the ABI spokeswoman said.
The flooding, which has hit thousands of homes and businesses, looks set to be at least as damaging as the major UK floods in 1990 that caused an insurance bill of over 2 billion pounds.
In addition to the damage to properties caused by the water, thousands of cars have been damaged, while further claims are likely because of electricity cuts after power stations were hit by flooding and by chaos caused to businesses by the weather.