:00:00. > :00:11.Good evening. Homeowners and there's a
:00:12. > :00:14.Good evening. Homeowners and businesses in Somerset have been
:00:15. > :00:18.assessing the damage and filling out insurance claims following this
:00:19. > :00:21.winter's floods. But for sole people, filling out forms isn't an
:00:22. > :00:27.option, because they say after previous floods, they are now
:00:28. > :00:31.uninsurable. Clinton Rogers reports. It's not going to be a pretty
:00:32. > :00:36.picture, I know. You still need waders to reach the factory, but at
:00:37. > :00:40.least you can get there now. This was how the site looked in January.
:00:41. > :00:45.Only the roof of the building is visible. Today, Neil was gohng back
:00:46. > :00:50.there for the first time ` nervous, frightened of what he would
:00:51. > :00:55.discover. It's all become one, and it's just one huge tangled less I
:00:56. > :01:01.can't believe what I'm actu`lly looking at. It was, he said, as if a
:01:02. > :01:07.tsunami had hit. ?250,000 worth of wood sodden and mangled among the
:01:08. > :01:12.broken machinery. Fallen trdes everywhere. One had come through the
:01:13. > :01:19.side of the building. In total, Neil estimates around ?1 million worth of
:01:20. > :01:23.damage. And all of this uninsured. We can't get cover. After l`st
:01:24. > :01:31.year's flood, there is no stch thing as insurance cover. How are you
:01:32. > :01:35.going to cope? We'll have to cope. What do you say to people who say,
:01:36. > :01:39."You're on the Somerset Levdls ` what do you expect?" We havd been
:01:40. > :01:42.here for ten years. In the last two years, it has flooded. For dight
:01:43. > :01:48.years, it didn't flood. Somdthing is wrong with the system. Do you ever
:01:49. > :01:52.feel like giving up? No. Fedl like it, but I can't. Don't want to.
:01:53. > :01:56.Well, Neil says he hopes to have his business up and running in the next
:01:57. > :02:02.few days from a temporary f`ctory in Highbridge. In spite of all this
:02:03. > :02:06.work, it will plainly be many months before they will be manufacturing
:02:07. > :02:09.here again. Clinton Rogers reporting thdre.
:02:10. > :02:15.Well, today, MPs heard the floods could cost the insurance industry
:02:16. > :02:17.around ?400 million. The issue went before the Environment, Food and
:02:18. > :02:20.Rural Affairs Select Committee, where insurers also warned that
:02:21. > :02:25.proposed cuts to the Environment Agency could also affect future
:02:26. > :02:28.premiums. Well, earlier I spoke with Malcolm Tarling from the Association
:02:29. > :02:34.of British Insurers, and asked him if the floods mean some people are
:02:35. > :02:37.now uninsurable. We do appreciate there will be some
:02:38. > :02:41.property owners, whether thdy are homeowners or businesses, who are in
:02:42. > :02:44.areas of high flood risk or may have suffered a number of floods in the
:02:45. > :02:49.past, who will find flood insurance more expensive, and in some cases,
:02:50. > :02:51.harder to obtain. In the majority of cases, flood insurance remahns
:02:52. > :02:58.available at prices most people should be able to afford. A lot of
:02:59. > :03:03.these excesses can run into ?40 000. Are you in the business of not
:03:04. > :03:07.taking risks? In insurance, it is all about risk. Insurers have to
:03:08. > :03:10.take risks. What we want to do is manage those risks. High excesses
:03:11. > :03:14.are the exception rather th`n the rule, and they are only ever imposed
:03:15. > :03:20.where the flood risk is so great that without a high excess, it would
:03:21. > :03:23.be impossible to offer cover. You also have to remember that dven with
:03:24. > :03:28.high flood excesses, those will always be dwarfed by potenthal flood
:03:29. > :03:31.claims. A couple of inches, for example, of flood water in ` factory
:03:32. > :03:34.or home could cause damage, for a home, typically between ?20,000 and
:03:35. > :03:44.?40,000. For businesses, th`t cost can be considerably greater.
:03:45. > :03:47.The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival saw 50,000 race`godrs go
:03:48. > :03:50.through the gates. There were early victories for Somerset trainer David
:03:51. > :03:54.Pipe and Gloucestershire`based Jonjo O'Neill. Our sports editor, Alistair
:03:55. > :03:59.Durden, was there all day w`tching the action unfold.
:04:00. > :04:02.A record first`day crowd of just over 57,000 were treated to some
:04:03. > :04:08.gripping finishes and three local winners. The sunshine returned too,
:04:09. > :04:13.as the crowds packed into Prestbury Park.
:04:14. > :04:19.There are many ways to get to Cheltenham, but steam train has to
:04:20. > :04:23.be the most picturesque. It is a perfect start to the day. Pdruse the
:04:24. > :04:27.paper, back a few winners, or not, and it is the only way to travel to
:04:28. > :04:33.Cheltenham. Limousines, and for the really wealthy, helicopters also
:04:34. > :04:39.dropped off punters. The rest, coming by car, were still ddtermined
:04:40. > :04:42.to do it in style. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and wdlcome to
:04:43. > :04:46.the festival! Cheltenham likes to honour its legends. Today, two` time
:04:47. > :04:50.Gold Cup winner Kauto Star got to feel the buzz of the parade ring
:04:51. > :04:54.again. Gloucestershire`trained The New One was hoping to write his name
:04:55. > :04:59.into history in an eagerly anticipated champion hurdle, the
:05:00. > :05:08.day's big race. He produced a strong finish to come in third. And it was
:05:09. > :05:10.success for David Pipe, as the outsider, Western Warhorse,
:05:11. > :05:13.surprised everyone, including his Somerset trainer, to win thd Arkle
:05:14. > :05:17.in a thrilling finish. I was trying to persuade the owner not to run
:05:18. > :05:21.him. I thought we could find easier races for him. Luckily I cotldn t
:05:22. > :05:23.persuade him. Wins too for Gloucestershire trainer Jonjo
:05:24. > :05:28.O'Neill, and Alan King from Wiltshire. For some, then, plenty to
:05:29. > :05:33.toast. For others, well, thdre is always tomorrow.
:05:34. > :05:37.Tomorrow is the Queen Mother Champion Chase ` one for thd
:05:38. > :05:41.sprinters. And the weather here has been so mild and dry, there is even
:05:42. > :05:47.talk that before the end of the week, they might have to water the
:05:48. > :05:51.course. Football now, and it's been a busy
:05:52. > :05:54.evening for our teams. In the Championship, Yeovil lost 1`0 at
:05:55. > :05:58.home to Ipswich after failing to hit back after a first half goal. In
:05:59. > :06:03.League One, Swindon also lost at home. They were hosting Wolves, but
:06:04. > :06:06.only managed a single goal hn a 4`1 defeat. Better news, though, for
:06:07. > :06:12.Bristol City, who were away at Peterborough but won 2`1. In League
:06:13. > :06:20.Two, Bristol Rovers lost 2`0 at home to Dagenham, while Cheltenh`m
:06:21. > :06:24.managed a 1`1 draw away at Oxford. There is more news and information
:06:25. > :06:26.on your local BBC Radio stations and online. We're back with you in
:06:27. > :06:28.Breakfast tomorrow, but for now let's get the latest weather with
:06:29. > :06:40.Ian. I'm optimistic tomorrow will
:06:41. > :06:44.brighten. It will be a storx of a lot of cloud through the morning,
:06:45. > :06:49.and through the afternoon, we might see more in the way of sunshine
:06:50. > :06:56.Footy`mac, the cloud cover will be extensive. Temperatures up to three
:06:57. > :07:00.or five degrees Celsius. I would caution parts of Gloucestershire. It
:07:01. > :07:06.may take a good part of the day to wear away. It would probablx find
:07:07. > :07:14.towards Wiltshire, is cover starts to break up. The winds will be
:07:15. > :07:20.light. The cloud will not ldad to rain. Temperatures will reflect
:07:21. > :07:25.where the sun comes through, up to 15 Celsius. Under the cloud, more
:07:26. > :07:28.like eight or nine degrees. Thursday will be a day with a lot of fog
:07:29. > :07:32.around in the morning. It mhght take a while to clear.
:07:33. > :07:36.Thursday. It will brighten up as the day goes on. Here is the UK
:07:37. > :07:41.forecast. Plenty of dry weather over the next
:07:42. > :07:48.few days, especially across southern areas. That is courtesy of
:07:49. > :07:52.high-pressure, keeping the weather fronts at bay to the north-west It
:07:53. > :08:05.was cold and grey across southern areas today. Further north, lots of
:08:06. > :08:07.bustling sunshine after a cold start. The same