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It seems that every year, somewhere in Britain is hit with floods. And every year there are more stories about how the insurance industry is pulling up the drawbridge and not covering flood victims.

It’s only September and there are already floods in Scotland – in Moray – and more are forecast before the year is out.

As I sit here and write this, there are two Floodwatch warnings in place and yet the sun is shining outside. The thing is, you may not know what is happening further up river.

If you live anywhere near a river or the sea, it makes sense to register with the Environment Agency’s Floodwatch. But it is also vital that if you live in a flood-risk area, your home is fully protected.

So, what can you do to make sure your home insurance is sorted and your pocket isn’t going to get fleeced?

The right level of cover

If you are lucky enough to see the river from your living room, make sure that you have the right level of cover in case you should find yourself a bit too much part of the view!

Buildings insurance is of course essential, but then most mortgage lenders would insist you have buildings cover anyway. But what about contents insurance? Do you have it and is it really enough. One way of looking at it, is if you could turn the house upside down and shake it, what would fall out…? That’s your contents.

Make sure you also read your home insurer’s policy documents carefully and watch out for any exclusions. As always, read the terms and conditions and look out for any flood exclusions, such as not paying out for temporary accommodation and emergency supplies if your home has to be evacuated.

Reducing the cost of insurance

There are two ways you can reduce the cost of your insurance.

1. Compare prices online

Shopping around is obviously one of them. You could phone a broker in the yellow pages, or go online. If you go online though, you will already have discovered how frustrating it is. Brokers ask you to fill in a long form and take days to come back to you. webmoney can offer you an alternative though. We are the first website in the UK to give you a guaranteed price online which you can actually buy there and then.

But don’t take our word for it, give it a go.

2. Flood Defences

The other way you can reduce you insurance costs, is by taking some sensible measures to reduce the chances of water getting in and the damage it would do.

Here is a list of some things you can do to reduce the cost of a flood claim and therefore reduce the cost of your home insurance:

• At the extreme end of the spectrum, you could have a redoubt built, or some other suitable antiflood barrier, at the property boundary.
• Another way of preventing flood water getting in is to have professionally fitted floodboards put in, or you can buy some products off the shelf and fit them yourself. These usually consist of two slots either side of a door, in which you can fit a board so that it seals the opening. If you go down this route, make sure you get a product with a quality assurance mark, such as a kite mark.
• Plastic airbrick covers – very cheap and easily available, these simple devices could give you an extra foot or so of clearance in the event of a flood by sealing in under the floorboards. Sometime it can make the difference between being flooded or not.
• Simply replacing carpets with tiled or vinyl flooring can help reduce your insurance premium
• To reduce the chance of an electrical short, simply raising your electrical sockets so that they are 1.5m above ground floor level.

If it is practical, insurers look out for other steps you have taken to reduce the higher impact elements in a claim. For example, by moving boilers and heating systems upstairs, it reduces the chances of needing to replace your entire heating system if it gets caught in a flood.

A more certain way of preventing your drains from backflow than some of the suggestions below, would be to have non-return valves fitted to drains, water outlet and inlet pipes.

If you have PVC windows and doors, this too is something insurers would view favourably, as they are less likely to get damaged than wooden casements, doors and windows.

Finally, if you do have a cellar, it is worth considering having it tanked. This can also help reduce your premium.

Warning

A cautionary note on any flood defences. Keeping water out of your home if it rises above a metre and is pressing against the outer walls, could cause more structural damage than letting it in. So whilst it is well worth preventing flood water coming in under a metre, don’t block it from entering the property if it is likely to be higher than that. You would be far better off removing anything of value from the ground floor and clearing up afterwards. Whilst it may seem counterintuitive, it will cause less damage and any home insurance claim would therefore be lower.

If you are in any doubt, talk to your Local Building Control Officer

Another great source of advice is the OPW website

What if you get a flood warning

If you are better prepared for a flood, then it is likely that you will recover better afterwards. Here are a few things you can do to reduce the damage a food does.

• Turn off gas, electricity and water at the mains supply.
• Disconnect cookers, washing machines, dishwashers and any appliance connected by rigid pipes to gas and water supplies. The reason for doing this is that it will prevent damage to the pipes if the appliance moves during the flooding.
• Unplug all electrical items and store them upstairs.
• Floodwater can come up through plugholes and toilets. A nasty thought, but you really don’t want sewerage adding to your problems if you can help it. For the toilet, either stuff something down inside the bowl and weigh it down with bricks, or put a sandbag in it. For other drain holes use a plug and weigh it down and washing machines etc., push a cloth in the outlet pipe and tape it up.
• Use some kind of silicone sealant (you can get bathroom sealant at any hardware store) to seal up doors and windows. Put a bead of sealant around the door/window then close and lock it until after the flood water has gone down.
• You can also reduce the amount of water that gets into the property. You can buy special defences including removable boards for doors, covers for airbricks etc. and it may well be investing in a few simple flood defences like that.
• If you don’t have any special defences then you could use sandbags, or even plastic sheeting taped in placed on the outside of doors, windows and airbricks.
• You obviously want to try and keep your furniture and electrical goods out the way – so move them upstairs. The same goes for carpets rugs and curtains.
• Most furniture is going to be too heavy, so your best bet if a flood is on its way and you can’t move it out into store, is to raise it up on bricks.

Hopefully these few tips will help you not only reduce the cost of your home insurance if you have ever had a flood claim or live in flood risk area, but also how to be prepared. Being flooded is miserable enough – make sure you make it slightly less painful.

If you want more information, or to register for Floodwatch, why not visit the Environment Agency website. It is a must for anyone living in fear of floods.