London riots to cost insurers 200 mn pounds

London: Insurance firms in Britain have said the riots in London may cost them around 200 million pounds. Thousands of home-owners and companies were expected to seek damages from the riots.

Insurance firms, however, said they expect to recover their costs from the Police Compensation Scheme, it was reported.

The Association of British Insurers chief for general insurance, Nick Starling said, "Insurers are working as quickly as they can to deal with claims."

The association earlier put the expected claims bill "in excess of 100 million pounds", but sources later said it would almost certainly rise above 200 million pounds.

London was largely peaceful on Wednesday after witnessing over four days of violence as rioters stalked the streets, looted stores and burnt buildings. As many as 16,000 police officers have been deployed.

There were reports of unrest in Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Leicester and Birmingham, sources said.