Owners of businesses and property at risk of flooding could see insurance premiums rocket this year and may struggle to get cover in future.

From June next year, new rules will remove the obligation for insurers to provide cover for properties at risk of flooding and built before 2009.

Currently the rules oblige insurers to offer cover for properties at significant risk of flooding (higher than one in 75 annual probability) if the Environment Agency has plans to reduce the risk to below significant within five years.

However, this requirement is due to expire in June 2013, and insurance premiums for the coming year are already soaring. “We are hearing some renewal quotes of £15,000,” said Graham Clark, rural surveyor at the Country Land and Business Association.

“There is less public money going into flood defences, and that is starting to bite. Flood defences and insurance are directly linked, and we are calling on DEFRA minister Richard Benyon to recognise the issue and act upon it before it pushes peoples’ insurance premiums beyond affordable levels.”

Mr Benyon said an announcement would be made in the near future to reflect the continued responsibility of the government and insurers to ensure that flood insurance remained widely available.

Tim Price, spokesman for NFU Mutual, said the firm had no plans to withdraw flood insurance cover or increase rates simply as a result of the end of the current agreement. “Customers of other insurance companies who are concerned should check the position with their insurers.”