ALMOST 18 months after flooding devastated their store, York shopkeepers Alison and Richard Shrimpton are still paying the price through soaring insurance bills.

The couple, whose premium for the Shipton Road Stores in Rawcliffe doubled to £800 after it was inundated in November 2000, have recently been asked to pay £1,200 for insurance in the coming year.

Some other residents locally are also understood to have faced hiked premiums or excesses. Parish council chairman Richard Moore says he knew of one resident whose premium had risen by 37 per cent.

And he fears an insurance "postcode lottery" could develop in future, with insurers using basic flood risk maps and ignoring steps taken locally to ease the dangers of flooding.

Mr Moore is particularly concerned about what happens at the end of this year, when a two-year "moratorium" - under which the insurance industry agreed in late 2000 to continue providing cover for existing policyholders who had been flooded out - expires. He called for more consistency from insurers and a sense of understanding of what has been done to protect the area when the moratorium ends.

Mr and Mrs Shrimpton said they had expected a premium increase after making a £50,000 claim for damage caused in the 2000 floods.

But the second consecutive £400 rise this spring came as an unpleasant surprise, particularly as a series of measures had been taken locally to reduce the risk of any repeat flood in the area.

A number of householders told the Evening Press they had not so far had any insurance premium or excess problems. But one resident, who did not wish to be named, said her insurance excess had been raised to £2,500. She was also initially told the excess even covered damage caused by burst pipes, as well as external flooding, although this was later dropped by the company. She said the insurers had now offered to lower the excess, provided it received assurances from the parish council that steps had been taken to reduce flood risks.

The Association of British Insurers said that when the moratorium agreed in late 2000 runs out at the end of this year, cover would only be withdrawn in exceptional circumstances.

But there was a risk of higher premiums and excesses where the risk of flooding had worsened, to reflect the greater commercial risks to insurers.

He denied there would be any "postcode lottery," saying insurers would look at flood risk maps of an area, but also assess the individual circumstances of a customer, and take into account whether steps had been taken to reduce the risks of further flooding. Insurers wanted the Government to fund more defences and provide a co-ordinated approach to flood management, he added.

Updated: 11:22 Wednesday, April 03, 2002