Substantial flooding in the UK has cost small firm £831 million in business after the weather disrupted transport and services, affecting employees and customers.

A Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) survey of firms revealed that businesses in affected flooded areas lost an average of £1,531, with 29 per cent of businesses in flooded areas seeing transport being disrupted, while a third of firms saw reduced demand from their services.

The flooding has also affected the ability of small businesses to afford insurance, with insurance companies moving to raise prices in response to large pay-outs.

John Allan, national chairman at the FSB, said: “small businesses are worried they will find it increasingly difficult and considerably more expensive to insure their businesses. Certainly the evidence we have from our members points to small businesses' exclusion from the Flood Re scheme being unhelpful. We want the government and the insurance industry to look again at the support they have in place for small businesses in flood hit areas and see whether there is more help they can provide to ensure they have access to adequate and affordable insurance."

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