One in three UK flood victims fear the threat of flooding is increasing, and nearly half believe their property will be at risk again, new research reveals.
But most fail to act to reduce damage
One in three UK flood victims fear the threat of flooding is increasing, and nearly half believe their property will be at risk again, new research reveals.
Despite this, 80% of homeowners said they would not consider making changes to their homes to provide better protection against flood damage. This is why Norwich Union is launching the UK’s first flood resilient demonstration house to show the steps people can take to limit the impact of a flood.
Norwich Union’s flood resilient home demonstrates that protective measures are relatively easy to install. They drastically reduce the time taken to make the property habitable again and lower the cost of repairs.
The Flood Resilience Research report is the largest piece of research ever conducted amongst UK flood victims. The report questioned over a thousand people who have been flooded in the recent past. The report aims to ensure property owners know responsibility for improving resilience to flooding lies with them. Currently however, over half of those affected by flooding choose to restore their homes exactly as they were before.
The research reveals that the disruption to family life is the most difficult aspect of flooding to deal with according to two out of five (40%) respondents, followed closely by the loss of property and possessions (27%).
Mark Spybey lives in Northumberland with his wife Elaine. They were totally unprepared for the storm and floods which hit north east England during the winter of 2004/2005. He said: "When we returned to our home after the flood it was devastating, the water was more than two feet deep and had saturated everything from kitchen cabinets to wooden objects and soft furnishings. And it isn’t just as simple as drying it out. Anything made of reconstituted wood, for example kitchen cabinets, disintegrates and often you need to stop things drying out too quickly or else materials like plaster crumble and wood bows.”
Faced with this level of disruption to family life and the destruction of so much of their property, the Spybeys were keen to make sure they did everything they could to limit damage to their home and belongings in the event of another flood.
Mr Spybey added: “We chose to install flood resistant and resilient measures. We fully expect the work to pay for itself in the event of another flood – where hopefully we should not sustain anywhere near the same level of damage as we did previously because of the resilient adaptations. Also, because we can prove we have taken these steps, our insurance costs reflect the reduced level of risk to our property.”
Norwich Union’s revolutionary digital flood map is the first map to pinpoint flooding to individual houses instead of by postcode. It shows that the Spybeys home is likely to flood again within the next 50 years.
John Wickham, senior claims manager, Norwich Union commented: “The Spybeys were amongst the luckier ones. They were able to return to their home just a week after the storm and live upstairs while most of the restoration work was going on. This was mainly because the flood water had not been contaminated by sewage.
“But nearly a fifth of those we spoke to said it took them between three and six months to get back into their homes after a flood, whilst over a quarter took nearly three months. If flood resilient measures had been in place, this time could have been halved.”
More than two thirds (69%) of those affected are yet to take any action to protect their homes from future flooding. And over half (52%) restore their homes exactly as they were before.
John Wickham continued: “Implementing measures to make your home flood resistant or resilient are relatively straightforward, and there are a number of options available.”
Measures that can be installed include:
- Flood boards which can quickly and easily be erected around doors to keep out flash flood water for several hours
- Pump-and-sump systems which are installed below floorboards to remove water faster than it can enter the house from below ground
- Replacing perishable materials such as floorboards, wooden fittings and gypsum plaster with concrete, ceramic, plastic or cement alternatives
- Moving expensive items above possible water levels – such as boilers, service meters and electrical points
- Installation of one-way valves into drainage pipes to prevent sewage backing up into the house.
Mary Dhonau, from the National Flood Forum, said: “It is impossible to quantify the emotional toll and strain caused by a flood. We would strongly advise anyone to research the potential flood risks in their area and seek advice about how this might affect their property.”
If flood protection has been put in place, costs for restoration could be lowered from Ł48,564 to as little as Ł8,560 per household. And because damage is on a lesser scale families can return home more quickly.
The flood resilient demonstration home has been undertaken as part of Norwich Union and Norfolk County Council’s FLOWS* project - a jointly funded scheme to encourage householders to see the benefits of protecting their homes from floods.
Alison McErlain from Norfolk County Council explains: "The recent research shows that only one in ten householders understand that they have a responsibility to protect their homes against flooding, incorrectly believing it is the remit of local government, the Environment Agency, or water companies.
“Unfortunately it is householders who ultimately suffer the brunt of the costs from flood damage. Through the FLOWS project we wanted to show how people at risk can protect their homes either by doing resilient work when they are planning to make changes to their homes or following flooding.”
Norwich Union supported by Norfolk County Council has developed a website that contains a host of information about flood resilient and resistant repairs - www.floodresilienthome.co.uk.
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Contacts
For further information please contact Adam Cracknell, Norwich Union on 01603 684916 / 07800 699 517 or adam.cracknell@norwich-union.co.uk, Charlotte Ruddlesdin or Charlotte Speedy, QBO Bell Pottinger, on 020 7861 2424 or cruddlesdin@qbo-bellpottinger.co.uk
Notes to editors:
The flood resilient demonstration house is in Lowestoft – images and tours are available on request.
About the research
Research was carried out in July 2005 by ICM Research. Results are based upon 1086 face-to-face interviews unless otherwise stated. For a full summary of results please contact QBO Bell Pottinger.
About the FLOWS Project*
FLOWS stands for Floodplain Land-Use Optimising Workable Sustainability and is funded by the Interreg North Sea Programme. It has been set up to develop sustainable and practical approaches to dealing with flooding and flood risk. The aim is to raise public awareness of flooding issues, improve techniques of mapping and modelling flood risk and strengthen consideration of flooding in planning decisions. An important aspect of FLOWS is sharing knowledge and experience between different regions of the EU. European partners include Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The FLOWS project is led by Cambridgeshire County Council and the other UK partners are the Environment Agency, Lincs., Northants and Suffolk County Councils. Funding partners are ODPM, EEDA, EMDA and Norwich Union.
About the National Flood Forum
The National Flood Forum is a community network formed by people who have firsthand experience of the trauma, loss and frustration that goes with flooding. It is dedicated to helping all those at risk of flooding to cope with their situation and then to improve that situation by reducing both the probability and consequences of flooding.
About Norwich Union
- Norwich Union is supporting Norfolk County Council’s FLOWS project in conjunction with Suffolk County Council and the Cotman Housing Association.
- Norwich Union is one of the UK’s largest insurers.
- With a focus on insurance for individuals and small businesses, Norwich Union insures:
- one in five households
- one in seven motor vehicles
- more than 800,000 businesses
- Norwich Union products are available through a variety of distribution channels including brokers, corporate partners such as banks and building societies and Norwich Union Direct.
- Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva’s internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media