Ed Miliband to call for faster flooding insurance claims

Labour leader Ed Miliband will call for faster processing of insurance claims when he too meets industry representatives and people who have suffered flooding.

Initial payments should be made within a month, he will suggest, and a new industry standard set to greatly reduce the maximum wait to have a claim completed and return home.That could take more than a year at present, Labour said.

Read: 62% think Government reputation worse after floods

Documents have emerged which show how some planned spending on flood defences never materialised.

Locations still waiting for the full funding include the Somerset Levels and the section of railway line in Devon that succumbed to the storms 12 days ago.

ITV News Deputy Political Editor Chris Ship reports:

A horse carcass has been photographed along with other animals "too exhausted" to move in flooded fields in Leicester.

"I clocked what I thought was a horse lying down in the field and I thought that would be really exceptional because they would normally try and stay on their feet," said farrier Mark Johnson, 51.

"But when I got closer I realised it was the decomposing corpse. It was awful - it was just left there, rotting away.

"Then I saw another horse, a foal, lying down at the end of the field by the water line, we tried for a while to get it up and out but it was just too exhausted," he said.

The Environment Agency currently has two severe flood warnings, 121 warnings and 169 alerts in place across England and Wales.

The severe flood warnings are in place in the Southwest - Salt Moor and North Moor including Moorland and the A361 East Lyng to Burrowbridge.

Severe flood warnings are issued when flooding presents a real danger to life.

Flooding in Britain: Latest updates

Nearly three quarters of Brits (72%) now think the Government does not appear in control of the flooding situation.

Only a fifth (20%) agree that the Government is doing enough to help those affected by the flooding and storms a ComRes poll for ITV News found.

The number of those who disagree that Government and environmental agencies have responded well the recent flooding has increased dramatically from 39% when the floods first hit in the new year, to 62% today.

There has also been a more than 10% rise in the number of people who do not think that Britain is equipped to deal with the weather it is likely to face over the next five years.

Two thirds of Britons believe the Government's reputation for crisis management has been hurt after the recent severe weather.

A ComRes poll for ITV News found that just a quarter (26%) believe that the flooding has made no difference and only 7% think that the Government is emerging from the situation with a better reputation.

Read more: PM will 'learn lessons' by visiting every flood-hit area

Members of the public are being warned to watch out for landslides when out walking in Dorset.

County council emergency planning officer Simon Parker said:

The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment have been helping flooded Worcester since last week but their duties are now being scaled down according to West Mercia police

They have been distributing sand bags and ensuring Worcestershire's vulnerable people have been reached.

Despite the announcement that military operations in the Worcestershire floods are being scaled down the shuttle truck that has been taken Upton upon Severn residents across flood waters will continue for a few days.

The service that has become known as the Upton Express will carry on until its safe to pass without assistance.

Superintendent Kevin Purcell said:

"The situation in Worcestershire is slowly improving and we are working hard towards preparing for the recovery phase. This means we no longer need the support of the Army."