What follows is a general guide and will not apply to everyone. Houses differ, insurers differ, floods differ. You should investigate your own situation and take expert advice.
Flood resistance means keeping floodwater out; for example by door barriers and air-brick covers. However, where water comes up through the floor, as is quite common, this is not enough. Flood resilience means having your house arranged so that, if water does get in, damage is kept to a minimum. For example – stone or tile floors; electrical sockets and wiring well above the floor; appropriate plaster on the bottom part of the walls; washing machine on a raised platform. Much the easiest time to do such work is when repairing after a flood.
Insurers often undertake to replace ‘like with like’. This does not mean you have to put things back as they were before. What it does mean is that if, say, the damage is assessed at £20,000 the insurers will give you that much to do repairs. You can then spend that as you decide. Insurers don’t always make this clear, so ask. If resilient repairs cost more you have to find the extra yourself.
The more resilient a property is the less the cost of repairs after flooding. Equally importantly, the clearing up is reduced and you are much more quickly back to normal – compare mopping a stone floor to throwing out ruined carpets and drying out or replacing wooden floors.
To find out more, try the Homeowners’ Guide to Flood Resilience.
Two of us have written for the National Flood Forum Newsletter on making our homes flood resilient:
Peter Rawcliffe_resilience article
Another useful resource is the BeFloodReady centre which opened in May 2023. The centre includes a training facility aimed at the building and insurance industries run by the National Flood School which also provides advice to homeowners via their parent company Disaster Care. A selection of Property Flood Resilience products can been seen at the BeFloodReady centre, which is located in the grounds of HR Wallingford research park, Oxfordshire. If you wish to arrange a visit of the facility to find out more, please contact graham@gjbconsultancy.co.uk
You may also want to take a look at the free ResilicoConnect app which you’ll find in your app store. This provides flood alerts, including warnings of surface-water flooding, and includes a template for creating a bespoke flood-preparedness plan for your home or business. You can even set up reminders to periodically check that equipment like pumps and flood gates are in good working order.
Making your property more flood resilient, a brochure prepared by CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association) can be downloaded here. This is a useful guide to what you should expect from any supplier of flood protection products and services. CIRIA has developed a detailed code of practice in this area. This short video outlines the recommended steps to follow.
Disclaimer: users of this website should please note the DISCLAIMER and note on insurance advice.
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