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Flooding & Home Insurance Insurance
Due
to climate change, the chance of Flooding is fast becoming a way
of life for many Home Owners.
At
the present moment in the United Kingdom, there are more than
two million homes that are at risk from Coastal or Inland
Flooding. Of this number, some 400,000 home buildings have a
very high chance of Flooding.
When
ask for a Home Insurance Quotation, all insurers will ask
you about the possibility of Flooding or if you property is
situated on a Flood Plain. It may be possible that you will not
be able to obtain Home insurance or are asked to pay higher
excess. The
financial impacts of flooding would be catastrophic with out
insurance being in place and it is unbelievable that many homeowners still do not insure their
building. It is difficult to imagine a flood in your own
property, but witness the TV pictures from Boscastle in Cornwall
a while ago and you can see the damage flooding can cause to
property. Insurers estimate that a fairly typical flood claim
cost’s them anywhere between £10- £30,0000 but this can
double if the extent of “ deep water lasts in excess of two
days. Each
year the Uk insurance industry pays pout between £500 million
and £1 billion in weather related claims. In
some cases insurance companies will extend Flood cover to
homeowners but only if the chance of flooding is infrequent. If
it is possible to obtain cover, certainly a higher premium will
be payable.
Building Insurance Rating -
Insurers
rate by postcode; as soon as you tell them where you live they
will have access to details regarding the possibility of
Flooding in your area, however don’t rely on the building
insurer having full information, you must certainly alert them
to information such as you proximity to rivers, canals, water
courses etc and questions relating to Flooding must be closely
studied on the insurers proposal forms.
What to do in the event of claim
- this
can be a fairly traumatic time and it pays to have all essential
information to hand including your insurance companies telephone
number. ( See below)
Most now operate a 24 hour claims hotline and it is
advisable to notify them of a loss as quickly as possible.
What can you do to minimise a
Flood Loss - floods frequently happen at
night and in the dark, keep all essential information in a
waterproof bag and it pays to keep a battery operated torch.
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Keep all of
your valuable important documents ( driving licence, passport,
marriage certificates, share certificates etc in plastic
bags and preferably in an upstairs room.
-
Keep in a
safe place a note of your important telephone numbers,
especially your insurance company (don't forget to make a
note of the policy number)
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If you believe
flooding to be likely at your home, following an alert, try
to move your valuable items upstairs.
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If you own a
car or a motorcycle, try to move it to higher ground
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Remember,
Floodwater is often contaminated, try to avoid it as much as
possible.
Copyright Building-insurance-uk.co.uk 2008
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