Following last year’s severe flooding across the country, flood risk awareness and prevention has become a necessity for many homeowners. Those who are looking to buy, as well as current home owners, must be made aware of property flood data and be given solutions and tools to increase resilience.
Over 5 million residents within the UK either live or work within a property at risk of flooding. The average cost of a single flood currently ranges between £10,000 and £50,000 per household, making it an area of concern within conveyancing. Many households are still recovering from the floods which occurred last winter. However, many may not know that if suitable flood resilience measures are put in place, they can reduce cost of future damage by up to 73%.
There is now a new set of guidelines formulated by the Know Your Flood Risk campaign, offering an expert insight into various areas of property flood management. The “Homeowners’ Guide to Flood Resilience” is the most comprehensive guide of its kind, and key topics covered include:
- Property Analysis
- Insurance Guide
- Flood Prevention Solutions
- Case Studies (demonstrating ways to protect a property)
- Certified Product List
This guide comes prior to the Flood Re initiative due to come into force during summer 2015. This new legislation will ensure insurance providers give those most at risk of flooding affordable and accessible cover. Flood Re will also provide compensation to those affected by serious flooding. That said, the new rules come with a three strikes
clause — after three flood occurrences, if no action is taken by homeowners, they will receive no further funding from Flood Re, making flood resilience imperative in high-risk areas.
Mary Dhonau, Chief Executive of the Know Your Flood Risk campaign explains, In practice, the ‘three-strikes’ rule means that after the first flood claim, Flood Re will pay for a property level survey to determine what adaptation measures need to be made. If the property is flooded again the homeowner will receive a warning letter, but then those who haven’t made the appropriate moves to protect their property and go on to submit a third claim will no longer be eligible for insurance.
Aidan Kerr, Assistant Director and Head of Property, Fraud and Specialist Lines at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) adds, The UK insurance industry is investing millions of pounds building a world-first flood insurance solution to ensure flood cover remains affordable in the UK. But with flood risk set to increase with climate change, it has never been more important for people to understand their flood risk and understand what they can do to help manage it, which is why the Homeowners Guide to Flood Resilience is so important.
The Homeowners Guide to Flood Resilience is free and available to download at the Know Your Flood Risk website.
