BOLTON West MP Ruth Kelly has revealed she DID have insurance on her home in Horwich — but claims she cannot remember why she didn’t use it to claim for flood damage.

Instead, Ms Kelly submitted parliamentary expenses claims for thousands of pounds worth of luxury furniture, a plasma TV and repair work following a flood at the property in late 2005.

She was reimbursed from the public purse for around half of the costs, after agreeing with the Fees Office that she would foot whatever part of the bill officials saw fit.

When asked by The Bolton News on Monday why she hadn’t claimed for the damage on her household insurance, a spokesman for the MP, who will stand down at the next General Election, said: “Ruth can’t find any record of an insurance policy that would have covered it and doesn’t seem to have claimed for a policy.”

But now Ms Kelly has admitted she did have insurance on the house, which she bought with her husband Derek Gadd in 2001.

She said: “I was not in the constituency when the burst pipe was discovered, and the urgent work was commissioned on my behalf using a local contractor.

“At the same time, I also undertook routine maintenance and refurbishment of the property. I do not know whether this work would have been covered by the insurance policy in any case.

“With the passage of time I honestly cannot recall now why I did not claim on the insurance policy and, as I have stated, I do not know if any such claim would have been met in full or part."

Ms Kelly said she believed it was unlikely she would have been paid out anyway as many insurance policies have an "unoccupancy clause" and she was away from the home for part of the week.

The MP added: “What I am clear about is that I have acted in good faith throughout and have broken neither the letter nor, just as importantly, the spirit of the rules.”