Don't let floods end in tears

Three months after the summer floods research from Abbey Insurance shows 6.2 million people still don't know if their home is at risk. Meanwhile, 710,000 home-owners have seen their home re-designated into a high flood risk area.

Somewhat disturbingly, over half of all home-owners (23.9 million people) made no checks to discover whether or not their current house was situated in a high-risk flood area before moving in.

The survey from Abbey highlights a worrying trend that suggests many home-owners are oblivious to the potential threat of flooding facing them and their homes. Indeed, for 253,000 people the first they knew they were living in a high-risk area was when they got flooded.

Tony Beckwith, Abbey Insurance said: "The concern is that so many people are still unaware of the potential risk they might be facing. 6 million people assumed they would have been told before they moved into the house if it was at risk, but actually the responsibility lies with the person buying the house to find out.

"Maybe the introduction of Home Information Packs could have been more helpful by highlighting homes that have a history of flooding."

Beckwith adds that the UK is the only country in Europe where the insurance industry is responsible for repairing property after major floods. In other countries there is a tax on insurance premiums that cover this type of event.

Meanwhile, James Harrison, CEO of insurance comparison website, Insurancewide.com, issues the following advice in response to the recent high tides and flooding along the east coast of England.

"Anyone living in areas likely to be affected by the flooding that already have a home insurance policy should be fortunate enough to have flood damage included as part of their cover. Most home insurance policies do include this cover as standard but double check the small print."

Harrison adds however that for the unfortunate home-owners who don't currently have any existing home insurance and have been hit by a flood, there is very little point in trying to arrange cover now. Many leading home insurers are even considering removing flood cover from their standard home insurance policies unless the government increases its flood defence budget.

"If you do suffer flood damage, call your insurer immediately and quote your policy number to register your claim and start the claim process rolling. If temporary repairs are necessary let you insurer know as they may wish to inspect the damage before permanent repairs are carried out. It's really important to keep a record of damage and keep a copy of correspondence with your insurer."

For more information on flood risk call the Environment Agency Floodline on 08459 881188.