Flood Threat
A recent report has suggested that the victims of the 2007 floods are still suffering stress and anxiety because of difficulties dealing with insurance companies and particularly rogue builders. The survey was carried out by people who approached the National Flood Forum for support and advice in the wake of last years events.
Last years floods highlighted the problems that climate change linked with poor planning can cause and will increasingly cause in the future. The Association of British Insurers (the ABI) had threatened to stop offering flood damage protection to over a million homes unless the government proved it would take greater measures to protect against the threat of flood.
Predictably, the government soon agreed to offering such protection, faced with the prospect of millions of British homes on flood plains suddenly becoming uninsured and uninsurable, there was little else that they could do.
The deal includes the government agreeing to delivering improvements to national flood defences with a five-year plan. The insurance industry, accordingly, have declared that they will continue to offer Buildings Insurance to people who live in areas of moderate risk and will cover existing customers who live in an area of significant risk. They will not, however, offer new policies to new customers in high-risk areas.
Overall the ABI believes that 517,000 are at a significant risk of being flooded, and there is no reason for these numbers to go down by any great proportion in the near future whatever the government does with the flood defences. Another year of significant floods, such as those experienced last summer, could still wreak havoc with our insurance industry, which in the current financial climate could be very damaging indeed.
Last years floods cost the members of the Association of British Insurers somewhere in the region of £3bn. The floods resulted in four years worth of claims being submitted in just two months, so it is not particularly surprising that they are keen to get some assurances from the government as to future flood protection. The government has also pledged to change the planning system in order to prevent inappropriate development in flood-risk areas.
For many there is no choice, but if you are looking to move into an area that has some history with flooding, try and avoid the most high risk areas. Though last years floods were reported as being ‘Once in a Century’, with the ever-present threat of climate change and latest reports suggesting that last years events may well happen again with increasing frequency we have not heard the last of this issue. For the moment then, if you are in an area at high risk of flooding, you will still be able to get home insurance, though the premiums are likely to go up, make sure that you do your research carefully, Co-Operative Insurance is one company that is offering particularly good home insurance deals at the moment.