We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below. This from Richard Jones in Shanklin. Ed
I don’t know if you have considered the effect of this tax on the Island.
Essentially all house insurance policies are to have a 2.2% tax levied to go into a fund held against large flooding events (as we saw on the Somerset levels.) It will ensure that people who live on flood-plains can still get insurance
At face value this all seems fair – people in large houses will pay more for insurance than people in small.
Already expensive due to subsidence
However, if like me, you live in a house that has suffered subsidence in the past, your already expensive insurance for a modest house will still be raised by 2.2% .
This means, I suspect, a fairly substantial transfer from the Island to the mainland given the problems with subsidence we experience.
No reaction from MP
I have written to MP Andrew Turner, but got no reaction – he passed the letter to a DEFRA minister who sent a factsheet, not answering the points I raised.
I don’t object to the idea of cross subsidy in principle (very Socialist for this government), but do rather object to having to subsidise millionaires living in large houses in the Thames valley.
Image: Andrew Smith under CC BY 2.0
