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Climate change will make flooding more frequent & more severe

Michael Gove has been speaking about climate change.

Climate change will mean that flooding in the UK will become more frequent and more severe…. Not good news.
Generally people expect flooding to be a winter issue. However, hotter summers combined with increased rainfall will lead to flash flooding in the summer too.

Key quotes from Michael Gove’s speech include:

  • “It will not always be possible to prevent every flood,”
  • “We cannot build defences to protect every single building or reinforce every retreating coastline”
  • “We can encourage every local area to strive for greater overall resilience”
  • “We need our communities and infrastructure to be better prepared for floods and coastal change, so that they recover more quickly from the damage

In 2019, Defra will publish a long-term policy statement on flooding and coastal erosion and the Environment Agency will issue a new 50-year flood strategy.  Michael Gove said it should “explore new philosophies”, going beyond traditional flood defences such as sea and river walls and other “hard” barriers.

Obviously we’ll be reading more about this in 2019 but you can read the original article here

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Good news if you need insurance and are at risk of flooding

Flood RE provides affordable insurance to home owners at risk of flooding. Before Flood RE launched in 2016, home owners who had been flooded or who lived in high flood risk areas were often left without insurance cover.  Sometimes, insurance companies refused to insure their property or they quoted premiums that were astronomical.  Many homeowners were left without any insurance.

Since its launch,  Flood RE has helped many homeowners obtain affordable insurance to protect homes at risk of flooding.

The good news is that from January 2019, Flood RE are reducing their premiums.  Homeowners will find it more affordable to protect homes situated in flood risk areas. Premiums for building insurance will reduce by 12.5% and contents insurance by 33%.  Read more

property insurance required from exchange of contracts
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Insure your new property as soon as you exchange contracts

You need to arrange property insurance as soon as you exchange contracts.  Otherwise you can become liable for the costs of repair if the property suffers from flooding between your contract exchange and completion.

This article tells the unhappy story of house buyers who had exchanged contracts on their new property. However, the property flooded before the purchase completed.  They are left with a £50,000 bill and a very unhappy situation

You can read more about this story here

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“Investing in flood protection is better than claiming” say Moneysupermarket.com

Money Supermarket.com  have conducted research into insurance claims resulting from flooding. In this article they name the UK towns and cities worst hit by flooding.  Kevin Pratt from Money supermarket.com says”  “It’s much cheaper to install flood defences than it is to repair the damage water can cause”.  Installing flood protection can be a worthwhile investment.

They have calculated that the average cost of a claim for water damage is £4,000.  Where the property is extensively damaged by the flood water then the average cost of the insurance claim escalates to £180,000.  He points out that avoiding having a claim is good for your future insurance premiums too.

This article includes the flood-hotspots and some useful information for protecting your home or business.

Is your location on the list? Read more