Commentary Flood insurance obligations Section 77: Expenses of relevant bodies
272.Section 77 provides the Secretary of State with the power to make regulations to raise a levy from insurers, with the consent of the Treasury. The levy is intended to allow Government to recover its costs in maintaining the register. Regulations could also provide for the recovery of any costs incurred by the Secretary of State in relation to the administration of the levy.
273.Subsection (2) states that regulations may specify the rate of the levy, or the way in which it will be calculated, as well as how often and in what way it will be paid by insurers. Under subsection (3) the regulations may, in particular, make provision for determining the amount of the levy based upon the qualifying expenses incurred by the Environment Agency and its equivalents in the Devolved Administrations.
274.Subsection (4) enables regulations to make provision for the sums payable as a levy to be recoverable as a civil debt. Under subsection (5), before making the regulations, the Secretary of State must consult with the Welsh Ministers, the Scottish Ministers and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland. Subsection (6) defines “qualifying expenses” as the proportion of a relevant body’s expenses that the Secretary of State considers reasonable in regard to its functions under section 74. “Qualifying expenses” also means those expenses of the Secretary of State attributable to carrying out functions conferred by and under this section.