How to Cope with Flash Flood Insurance Claims

Property Claim Assist – a loss assessor who assisted London property owners after last year’s London flash floods – is urging homeowners and business property owners to get the right insurance claim help, as another wave of flash flooding hits the UK in the wake of the heatwave.

August 15, 2022, saw flash flooding hitting homes and properties in Devon and Cornwall, ironically on the 70th anniversary of the horrific Lynmouth floods.

Property Claim Assist says it is important homeowners know where to get help with a home insurance claim should flash flooding affect their home and that business property owners who are affected by flash flooding appoint their own loss assessor, to progress their insurance claim as fast as possible and get back on their feet.

More homeowners are at danger of having to make an insurance claim for property losses suffered because of flash flooding than river or sea flooding. 2.8m are said to be at risk of flash flooding alone, whilst 1m of those at risk of river or sea flooding are also at risk of flash floods’ impacts.

Property Claim Assist is still shaken by seeing the human impacts of flash floods in London last year, having assisted owners of basement flats who had lost everything they owned and who received no help from their insurers for many months.

Those July 2021 floods, occurred on two key dates in the month and demonstrated that flash flooding is a particular threat for urban communities, where natural and grassed areas are less common and typically parched by summer heatwave temperatures. In these areas, water runs off these dry, rock-hard areas of land, leaving tarmac and concrete unable to absorb the mass of water that hits them.

With Victorian drainage systems in many towns, including London, a rapid dumping of rainwater leads to surface water flooding.

Back in 1952, the starkest warning of the loss of life and property losses that flash floods can bring was witnessed in the North Devon village of Lynmouth. There, cottages and business premises were swept away and 34 people lost their life, after 90m tons of rain fell on Exmoor in just 24 hours. Nine inches of it was between mid-morning on August 15 and 9am on August 16.

Exmoor’s bogs could not hold the water, which ran like a torrent down into the village, sweeping away almost everything in its path.

“Households need to be better prepared and recognise that much flooding is not caused by rivers or the sea but by random deposits of huge volumes of water, in one particular area, in a very short space of time,” says director, Simon Colburn. “To prepare for a flash flood, homeowners should keep their insurance details at hand and have an action plan in place, whereby they can swiftly move as many possessions as possible to a higher level.”

“However, they also need to have an action plan in place for their flash flood insurance claim, as the current situation with insurers and their reaction to claims is dire.”

Fellow director, Gary Rogers, explains: “Insurers do not have the claims teams to cope with a sudden event like this, as even day-to-day home insurance claims are proving impossible for them to handle quickly and efficiently. We had to assist flash flood victims last year, who had spent three months getting no response from their insurers, despite living with the impacts of water and sewage ingress into their homes.

“If anyone finds themselves suffering in this way this year, we are here to help, to move their claim forward fast and to give them the representation that everyone needs in a fairly significant insurance claim, even if insurers do not wish to tell you that. It usually costs our clients nothing to use our service.”

To help people understand how property insurance claims work and why they need to level the playing field and have their own expert in the negotiations, Property Claim Assist has created a podcast, in which Gary Rogers explains the process and how it can be a free-of-charge service to the insured policyholder.

The loss assessors urge insured homeowners and business premises owners to listen to this here or below to gain a deeper understanding of the need for a loss assessor and to appreciate that having an expert in your corner is not about getting more than you are entitled to, but what your policy should provide. In many instances, insurers try not to provide that.

A loss assessor will also handle all of the frustrating processes involved in trying to get responses from insurer claims departments, which are working from home, under-resourced and still using Covid-19 as an excuse for appalling service.

Property Claim Assist also prides itself on its service to the elderly and other vulnerable adults, for whom it has produced a special booklet called ‘Entitled to More,’ available for download here.

“Flash flooding can hit any property owner, at any time and is happening across the UK right now. All homeowners and business property owners should be prepared and know how best to respond, so they can get back on their feet as fast as possible,” says Gary Rogers.

For help with a flash flood home insurance claim or business insurance claim, call Property Claim Assist on 0333 577 2720.