THOUSANDS of flood-hit householders across the North-East and North Yorkshire were last night facing up to an inevitable rise in the cost of their insurance premiums.

Insurers have estimated that the flood damage from rain over this week could put their insured losses at more than £1bn.

Many policy holders will see their premiums go up at their next renewal date, regardless of whether they have made a claim for flood damage as insurers seek to spread their losses around.

Experts also say that the insurance industry may look in the long term to review the price of household policies, as many companies are already barely making money from them.

Tom Pejnovic, of Axa Insurance, which has a base in Darlington, said: "Household insurance is very competitive at the moment and we are pushing prices down and down.

"When an event like this happens we do come to our senses and start realising we have been charging less than we should.

"People that have made two or three claims because of the floods can expect their premiums to rise, there is no doubt about that.

"Across the whole of the UK, even people who have not made claims will get an increase of some sort - especially if they live in an area which can expect to be flooded in the future."

Mr Pejnovic added that he believed no one, regardless of how badly hit their area was, was uninsurable. "It would take a huge amount of claims in one particular area for that to happen," he said.

Dominic Cerillo, of Endsleigh, claimed that some companies would accept the risk they had taken on in some areas and would not face premium rises.

However he admitted the industry would re-assess the risk caused by floods over the next two to three years.

Anyone hit by floods is advised to contact their insurance company as soon as possible and to resist the urge to undertake repair work without being authorised, unless it is absolutely necessary