You and Yours - 18/10/2010

Consumer affairs with Julian Worricker. People who live in areas liable to flooding are facing huge increases in their home insurance premiums because the insurance industry does not believe that the government is investing enough in flood defences. Presently the extra risk of floods is spread across all home policies but the insurers now say they'll end this practice which could lead to premiums in flood risk areas rising fourfold. Energy produced by renewable technology has fallen for the second quarter running. A shortfall in rain and wind this year has been blamed as output from renewable sources contributed 5.9% of energy consumed compared to 6.5% last year. Critics say it demonstrates the need to boost our mix of energy sources. Supporters of an expanded renewables sector say the drop is to be expected at this stage of development of capacity. The Government is legally bound to produce 15% of the UK's energy from renewable sources by 2020. The boss of a traffic penalty tribunal says that local authorities must stop penalising motorists unfairly for misdemeanours like being inches over a yellow line or for displaying meter tickets and disabled parking badges upside down on the dashboard. Who are the middle class? It is an important question as the government considers how it should go about clawing back the billions of pounds of debt run up by the nation as a result of the banking crisis. David Phillips from the Institute for Fiscal Studies gives his analysis of Household Income in the UK and, in cash terms, where the middle class begins and ends.