UK Floods and Insurance Cover

Why does it come as no surprise to me that some home owners are unable to get Insurance cover for flooding? The poor souls affected by this latest round of flooding throughout the UK need help and they are saying "but what can we do, the insurance companies refuse to cover us".

It's the same old story, the insurance companies want your money, but only want to insure your contents and buildings where there appears little 'risk' and where they don't have to pay out. When they do get a claim they search for the smallest detail to wriggle out of paying compensation, so why do any of us bother to pay their extortionate fees in the first place?

Why don't we all say stick your insurance cover and then go cap in hand to the government? I mean it's their fault in the first place isn't it, they are responsible for the rivers, the flood plains aren't they, so why do we need insurance cover?

It just can't be right that Insurance Companies are permitted to 'pick and choose' who they insure as seems to be the case.

What say you members, have you had a bad experience with an insurance Company that needs highlighting here on POE? Remember, POE gets some 80 million page views each year and that's enough to change the world!

POE the best England website on the net bar none, and one with some clout for sure!

My brother in law and sister in law have been flooded 3 times in the previous 6 years. They don't live on a flood plain, but their house is at the bottom of a very steep wooded valley, when the heavy rain comes the sheer volume of water which has to go somewhere, runs down the valley and into the house. 

Following the second flood serious measures have been made to flood proof the house, small things like raising the height of the electric sockets, laying flood proof flooring, and generally keeping household items off the floor etc.

They have made insurance claims for the first 2 floods, the first for £75,000, the second for £50,000, no claim was made for the third flood as the measures they had taken prevented any real damage.

The 2 claims were paid out promptly and without any quibbles at all from their insurance company. They can still obtain insurance though the premium is a little higher now.

The problem they face is if they come to sell the house, they will have to declare the floods I'm sure, the question being would the new owners be able to get cover from a different insurance company, or would they be flatly denied any sort of contents cover ?

Since we've been in this house (21 years) we've made 3 contents claims, all none flood related. In fact all David damaging stuff. The claims were not huge but our insurance company, Roland Smith in Liverpool have always paid out very quickly and we've seen very little rise in our payments. We also insure the car with them now as they offer a great service, you actually get to speak to a human every time you ring which is another bonus. 

So no complaints here, but it won't be changing insurance companies anytime soon. 

They need to install an huge conduit pipe in the river that goes off and into an place for drainage outside the city..put it deep enough in the river the water level has to be so high before they uncap it...it will stop the flooding...believe me, we have an problem area in this town and after years on end, they city did something about it..they flowed  the excess water into an lower area they dug outside of town and made into an bird santucary..so when the creek over flows...real high...the area is sumerged...and flows into another creek near by, but not the same one, but as it receeds...little islands emerge with tufts of grass in them for the birds to nest in. But summer there is no water there and it's an grassey area all of it's own.  It completely stopped the flooding which went about 30 miles into Portland also and flooded many homes when I was an kid every year.  But they also in Portland went trhough and the worst homes they raised up in the air 5 feet, and banked dirt and rocks around them also...and it's helped. If you have teh digging equiptment the buying of the conduit pipe isn' t all that much incomparison of homes and families flooded out. . City or Government people can easily do this project with the help they have available ususally and it don' t cost as much either...these people need jobs anyway to support their families. Asto insurance...I heard an lot about the during hurricane Katerina, lack of help...many of the people up an moved back further off the beach and lower areas near the Gulf of Mexico.  There was one story of an hurricane where these people took refuge in an brick elementary school..in the center of it...the gym area....and some guys thought they should check the corridors/hallways around the gym....to go down to an exit door to find themselve completely sumerged by the surge tide...that would ot scared the jeepies out of me...bu tthe building held until the waters receeded and they came out unscathed in the ordeal and alive. My first task as an supervisor was seeing to it that everything was up and off the floor. Especially the cleaning chemicals.  We build heavy wooden bins well waterproofed also) to hold the chemicals.... that were on wheels.  They also had lids that flipped over th top of them that could be hooked shut.  I am seeing some pictures out of Kent on this flooding in earthboppin.net....hope for an speedy recovery.  Since this is an low laying area...they ought to do something about it.  Even if it's to dig around the city and make an moat...you should be good at that one...and an couple of drawbridges. Best of luck.

Yeah, simple idea Shirley. We just need a simple Politician, or two, or three, to implement it. Now let me think, do we have anybody in government to fit that description? lol

That said, even if it was agreed somebody would object, even if it was to save their own life! We have to think about the rare orchids, and the rare beetles and...

I think it is unreasonable to blame today's politicians for previous bad planning policies. I have seen photos of the 1947 floods in the UK, when many older riverside properties suffered badly. Lessons were learned, and flood relief measures were built, which helped except in extreme conditions.  Also, many new buildings close to flood-prone areas are now built with the living area raised about a metre or so above ground level, with channels underneath the building to allow the flood water to safely flow through. This is certainly true of new properties built near the Thames.

Buying an older property close to a river may seem an attractive proposition in summer, but when winter comes, the risks of flooding are obvious. If one wanted an example of Caveat Emptor, this is a prime example.