Flood RE
06 July 2018
Flood RE is a joint industry/Government sponsored scheme to enable flood cover to be affordable for those households at highest risk of flooding.
What do homeowners face if flooded?
Episodes of severe flooding have increased over the past 10 years and the government has warned that intense bouts of flooding will continue to become more frequent1. Flooding can be devastating to any home. Below are just two examples of the effects of flooding.
- Disruption
If your home is badly damaged it may take a year or more for it to be restored and become habitable again; mainly due to the time it takes for the property to be dried out after being flooded2. - Expense
The average expected payout for each flood claim is now said to be £50,000 compared with £31,000 from the winter storms of 2013/143.
As a result of the increased risk of flood, a not for profit initiative has been developed by the insurance industry with the Government called Flood Re. Its purpose is to ensure UK homes at the highest risk of flooding can get affordable flood cover.
Having property insurance with flood cover can be crucial in getting a mortgage, so if flood insurance became harder to get and more expensive, this could have serious repercussions for the property market as a whole.
1https://www.gov.uk/government/news/climate-change-means-more-frequent-flooding-warns-environment-agency
2ABI Responding to Major Floods booklet
3ABI figures 11 January 2016
