UK Home Insurance Flood Cover

With the ending of the agreement between the government and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) at the beginning of 2003, those people who live in homes on flood plains are no longer guaranteed to receive insurance.

The original agreement was started in January 2001, just after the terrible floods of late 2000. Under the terms of the deal, the ABI agreed that its members would insure people living on flood plains for two more years, to give the government time to fortify the country's defences against what seem to be ever-worsening floods hitting the UK.

Worse, with the two years coming to an end, the government seems to have dragged its feet, assigning a £150m fund in the summer of 2002, which could be too little too late. Thus, if you live on a flood plain, your chances of receiving insurance are receding fast, and will be subject to the whims of the home insurance providers.

So, what can you do about this? Well, you could sell your home, but you'd have a problem, because if you can't get insurance, your buyer is unlikely to either, and if they can't get insurance they are unlikely to be able to get a mortgage, which could mean you can't find any buyers.

So, what you need to be thinking about now is protecting your property and your contents against the ravaging effects of floods. Here are a few tips on how to do that.

- Move as much of your furniture and household appliances upstairs as you can.
- Roll up your carpets if you can and take them upstairs.
- If you can't move an item, use bricks to lift it off floor level.
- Move everything you can't move away from the walls, and if you don't have time to remove curtains, hand them up over the curtain rods.
- Many sentimental items simply can't be replaced, so you should think about keeping them high up or upstairs permanently.
- All personal, insurance and bank documents should be kept in polythene in a place safe from floodwater.
- Weigh down any manhole covers on your property with sandbags or other heavy objects
- If your home is part of a terrace or is semidetached, water can come through adjoining walls - so make sure your neighbours are taking the same flood protection measures as you are.
- You should all have a stock of plywood, unfilled sandbags, sand, plastic sheeting, nails, a hammer, bricks, a saw and blocks of wood.
- Use sandbags, plywood and metal sheeting on the outside of doors, airbricks and window frames, trying to create a seal.
- Put a weighed down plug into sinks and baths and disconnect your washing machines and dishwashers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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