Going Green: Flood insurance is smart green thinking

Firstly, I’m so glad to have received this question and secondly to have received it before you’ve cancelled your insurance.

Please don’t cancel it.

By all means, shop around and see if you can get it any cheaper but keeping flood insurance on your property – unless you live at the top of a very big hill – is vital, especially when it comes to properties that are at high risk.

Right now, 20 per cent of properties across the country are at risk of flooding, with 2.4 million buildings actually standing on floodplains.

When it comes to new builds, the stories no better.

Over the last ten years, floodplain development has gone up 12 percent.

With how much the UK population is growing the means homes at rish of flooding in England could double in the next 50 years.

Fortunately, we also have figures on insurance claims that will hopefully help make up your mind.

The cost of weather-related damage claims to insurance companies has reached £573 million last year.

That’s the highest on record and 36 per cent greater than in 2022 when it was £421 million.

The UK has been hit in recent years by successive storms that have marched their way through the alphabet wreaking havoc both in coastal areas with flooding but also in land where properties have been built on flood plains, surface water floods and rivers have burst their banks with the torrent of water and rainfall.

Homeowner’s storms damage claims totalled £133m last year with subsequent flooding added £286m.

Property insurers paid out the equivalent of £13 million every day last year to help homeowners and businesses cope with unexpected and unwanted events like flooding according to the Association of British Insurers who also said the average cost of a flood claim has increased by 53 per cent from 2022 to 2023 going from £11,018 to £16,905.

I know that’s an awful lot of figures to throw at you but it’s really important we understand firstly that some homes are genuinely at risk, and also that the risk is increasing due to climate change.

Claims are going up, costs are going up, the likelihood of needing your insurance is increasing because of the increasing number of averse weather events we’re seeing annually in the UK. If you’re looking for a cheaper insurance, https://www.floodre.co.uk/how-flood-re-works/ might be able to help too.

It's not a great phrase to use given the nature of what we’re talking about but we really are seeing a perfect storm right now with weather and the need for insurance so if you can afford to keep the insurance then please don’t cancel it, because the cost if you flood without insurance could be horrendous.