A day to remember: Home insurance in the wake of The Great Storm

Twenty years ago today, sleepless and traumatised people from London to the Midlands faced a grim dawn. Late the previous night a storm of almost unprecedented ferocity had swept in from the Bay of Biscay, its 120mph winds flattening forests and ripping the roofs from houses as it trailed its destructive path through much of the South.

With wind speeds and air pressure similar to a Category 2 hurricane, the storm caused a huge amount of damage. Eighteen people were killed and insurance companies faced claims of more than £1.05bn of damage (or £2.09bn if adjusted to 2007 figures), making it the third most costly weather event in the past 25 years.

Twenty years later the British public and insurance companies alike are becoming increasingly well acquainted with extreme weather. While ‘The Great Storm’ sits high in the consciousness of the British public, the UK has borne the brunt of many a battering since then.

The infamous ‘Burns Day Storm’ of January 1990, for example, killed 97 people across Europe and cost British insurers a staggering £3.37bn. This year alone, Britain was first hit by windstorm ‘Kyrill’, a violent winter storm that caused widespread property damage and drove the MSC Napoli aground in Devon. This was followed up by the summer storms of June/July, which caused an estimated £3bn of damage and submerged much of Gloucestershire.

While these extreme weather events are nothing new (the biggest storm to hit the UK was the Great Storm of 1703), many scientists believe that the frequency of storms and floods are increasing as global temperatures rise.

According to Swiss Re, claims for damages incurred by natural catastrophes are rising at twice the rate of any other type of claim. In addition, The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said that, if global warming continues apace, the current value of home insurance claims could double or even triple by the middle of the century.

With an estimated 9% of homes in England and Wales at risk from flooding, and many others vulnerable to damage caused by violent storms, the need for adequate home insurance is fast becoming apparent. In fact, with our thoughts racing back to these years of awful weather, there is no better time to take out your policy and check the details. Ensure you don’t just have adequate building insurance cover (should your roof be damaged, for example), but that you also have adequate contents insurance to cover any of your belongings that might get damaged by, say, storm-related flooding. Also check the exclusions on your home insurance: gates and fences, for example, are rarely covered for storm and flood damage. You should also ensure that your insurance covers damage caused by floods, heavy storms, and falling trees, branches, aerials and satellite dishes (with the latter, remember that your building insurance will cover the damage caused by falling aerials etc, but it’ll be your contents insurance that’ll cover damage to the actual aerial/satellite dish). Also check whether your insurance covers the cost of using alternative accommodation if a storm makes your home temporarily uninhabitable; this comes as a standard component of some policies but for others, you may have to pay a little extra.

If you check your home insurance policy and think it’s inadequate for your needs (or it’s just too expensive for what it covers), shop around and look at what other policies offer for what price. You may find a more suitable policy with a different provider.

Apart from your insurance, always remember to protect yourself and your home against the possible impact of a storm, especially if you live in an area that’s prone to flooding. Check your area (or the area your hoping to move to) for flood risks, and see what storm/flood defences (if any) have been put in place in your town/village. Think about the preparations you might take to protect your home in the event of a forecasted storm. What barriers could you erect that might minimise damage to your property? Could you move furniture etc upstairs and away from flood risks? If your property is particularly at risk, could you adapt your home (for example, by raising power points or changing the flooring) to reduce possible damage? Any such steps you can take will not only save you some of the pain of a storm hitting your home, but may also reduce your home insurance premiums (for specific flood-related tips and guidance, see Fighting The Floods).

In years to come, we will likely all see the impact of more storms and bad weather. But if we all ensure that we at least have the right home insurance cover for our particular needs, then we will all be able to face the future inclinations of Mother Nature with a little more confidence.

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