§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the extent of the practice of denying insurance cover to owners of property because they wish to rent to people in receipt of DSS benefits; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonI have received a number of letters about the difficulty of obtaining insurance cover for properties where tenants are in receipt of social security benefits. Insurance cover for many properties in multi-occupation has become more difficult to obtain following reviews by insurance companies of types of business that had generated substantial losses. I am assured that companies are not assessing the risks they are prepared to underwrite solely on the status of the tenants. Following discussions with my officials and the Department of the Environment, the Association of British Insurers has now produced some guidance for owners of tenanted property on how to minimise the risks they present to insurers.