“Modest spending on defences could be the best investment homeowners make”
72% of home owners who have already been flooded see no reason why they should protect their property against a repeat occurrence, reveals online household insurance provider homeprotect.
Yet people who do so can potentially get more favourable insurance terms - and in some cases it is the only way they can get cover at all.
“It was only a few weeks ago when parts of Cornwall were devastated by flooding, with hundreds of businesses and homes destroyed, yet many more areas of the UK could face significant flooding. Even though we’ve been more recently pre-occupied with freezing conditions, a return to the prevailing weather patterns from the South-West will see winter storms with their strong winds and heavy rains lashing the country again soon. With the soil already-saturated from the Autumn, combined with the melt-water[1] from the recent heavy snowfall, surface water[2] and groundwater[3] flooding will again become a very real threat”, said David Walker, Managing Director of homeprotect.
Of those who applied for home insurance with homeprotect over the past year and where their property has previously flooded, just 28% had put in place any form of flood defences. “With over 5 million people in England and Wales living and working in properties that are at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea and 2 million homes that are situated in flood plains, this is a huge problem with a massive impact on the insurance industry”.
“A homeowner in a high-risk, flood-prone location who reduces the likelihood of their property flooding by installing additional flood defences has every right to ask for more favourable insurance terms”, continues Walker
Examples of flood defences that can be put in place include:
- Plastic airbrick covers – economical and easily available, these simple devices could provide an extra foot of clearance in the event of a flood by sealing in under the floorboards. Sometimes they can make the difference between being flooded or not.
- Non-return valves – since most flooding involves ‘dirty’ water being forced back-up through your toilet pan and into the property, these simple, cheap devices, which are easily-fitted, can make a tremendous difference in preventing one of the worst aspects of flooding.
- Another way of preventing flood water getting in is to have flood boards fitted. These usually consist of two slots either side of a door, and a board fitted in between so that the opening is sealed.
- Simply replacing carpets with tiled or vinyl flooring can help reduce an insurance premium
- Raising electrical sockets so that they are 1.5m above ground floor level, to avert a short circuit.
- At the extreme end of the spectrum, homeowners could have a redoubt built, or some other suitable anti-flood barrier, at the property boundary.
“Our approach is to offer favourable terms where the customer can clearly demonstrate they have taken responsibility and invested in appropriate flood defences.
For example, we had one customer who was flooded in 2003 when a nearby river burst its banks. She took exceptional preventative measures including the installation of airbrick covers, flood boards, raised concrete floor with sump pumps and non-return valves on drains. As a result, the property did not flood at all in the heavy rains of 2007. We were able to offer cover with a standard £1,000 excess for a previously flooded property. Had she not taken these measures, she would have struggled to obtain cover anywhere and her excess would have been at least £15,000”, says Walker.
Hull-based property owner, Jacqueline Turner, whose property had been affected by secondary flooding following the Hull floods in 2007, found her insurance premium had jumped significantly when her policy was due for renewal this year. A change in circumstances meant she needed to find a more competitive quote and after searching over sixty insurance companies to get a quote, many of which would not insure her property, she came across homeprotect.
“My property had been affected by secondary flooding for the first time in 2007. Having lived in the same house for 21 years, I had never experienced flooding until that time. I came across homeprotect on a comparison website after looking for companies which offered more competitive quotes after my current insurer had come back with a renewal price which I felt was over-priced. I was offered an instant quote from homeprotect, which came in significantly cheaper and they were one of the only companies which would cover my property. They offered me peace of mind and security in an instant, exactly what you would hope to get from an insurance company. Its speedy and efficient service not only provided me with the cover needed but gave me the reassurance that I was protected”, she comments.
Ends
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[1] Melt- water is water which comes from melted snow or ice.
[2] Surface water is water that is naturally open to the atmosphere, such as water from ponds, rivers, streams, etc.
[3] *Ground water is water beneath the earth’s surface, often between saturated soil and rock that supplies wells and springs.
Notes to editors
- homeprotect won the broking initiative of the year at the 2010 British Insurance Industry Awards following the success of their pilot programme.
- homeprotect was shortlisted for the broking initiative of the year at the 2010 Insurance Times Industry Awards.
- homeprotect was shortlisted for best SME business in Kingston Business of the year awards 2010.
- homeprotect is a leading provider of non-standard household insurance online. Non-standard insurance customers include those who live in high flood and subsidence prone areas, those who work from home, asylum seekers, the unemployed, owners of properties with flat roofs, owners of listed buildings, residents of shared occupancy homes and people whose properties are made from non-standard materials.