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Insurance Directory >> Home Insurance News UK Home Insurance NewsMonday, October 10, 2005
Be prepared for flood risk this winter
Home insurance provider MORE TH>N has urged homeowners and businesses in flood risk areas to prepare for the forthcoming winter months and avoid any potential flood damage.
Five years on from the devastating floods in Autumn 2000 which affected more than 10,000 households, MORE TH>N is offering guidance to homeowners and businesses in areas that could be affected by rising water levels. David Pitt, Head of Insurance at MORE TH>N, comments: ?The autumn of 2000 was the wettest in the UK for 270 years and led to the damage of 10,000 properties. Many people are still at risk of flood especially as climatic changes take place, so homeowners and businesses must be prepared. If you live in a flood risk area, don't close your eyes and hope for the best, prepare a 'Flood Plan' before the worst happens.? Accurate assessment of flood risk is becoming more and more important, with the impact of climate change increasing future flood risk in the UK. The MORE TH>N risk mapping tool has been based on the company?s own geological engineering risk techniques combined with digital terrain mapping, address verification information from Ordnance Survey and a Geographical Information System supplied by ESRI (UK) Ltd. David Pitt continues ?Insurers use varying levels of sophistication to measure flood risk. We are able to pinpoint risk right down to individual address level which means that thousands of homes previously considered at risk of flooding by the insurance industry can now get a better deal from MORE TH>N. We urge the rest of the industry to follow suit for the sake of homeowners across the country.? With more than 2 million households in the UK still at risk of flooding, MORE TH>N risk experts have outlined ten ways to be fully prepared for flooding this winter: 1. Pay attention to advice and warnings given by the Environment Agency in England, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, in Scotland or your local council. The EA and SEPA have a 24 hour information service called Floodline available on 0845 988 1188. In Northern Ireland businesses can get information from the Rivers Agency. Advice can also be found on their websites:
2. Have sandbags ready -your local council may be able to provide these -and boards ready to block doors, etc - do this in good time! 5. Keep a note of your insurer's Helpline number handy. posted by UK Insurance Index @ 10:12 AM
 
News items are intended for information only and should not be relied upon when making insurance decisions. Due to their nature some of the information in these news stories may no longer be current. |
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