Home Insurance Articles



Summary
Whatever goes on in the UK , we tend to blame the weather. It could be the cause of more expense on your home insurance premium though. Read on to find out why.

Blame The Weather

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The home insurance market is very competitive and as a result of this, the costs of insurance premiums have been kept down. In the past few years, though, there has been an over-riding reason for insurers to be wary of one aspect of the home insurance market.

This is due to a very great extent to large areas of the country being affected by flooding and the fear that, unless steps are taken to sort out this problem, history could be repeated and insurance losses could spiral.

One of the UK 's largest insurance groups paid out well over 340 million pounds in just one twelve month period and over just two areas of the country.

The first area to be seriously affected had already hammered the coffers of the insurers and rises in insurance were already on the cards when a second bout of really bad flooding occurred and we would have expected this to make the rise inevitable.

A spokesman for one insurer made the following statement at this time, explaining the possibility of an uplift in premiums "This is not just because of the recent flooding, but also reflects the higher cost of repairing homes generally," the spokeswoman said. "People tend to have more bathrooms, which mean a greater risk of damage from water leaks, and they are using more expensive materials for home improvements, which mean an increased cost for repairs."

It seems obvious that insurers residing in the worst affected flood areas would see the biggest impact of the price rises. These people have already suffered immeasurably from the tremendous damage and upheaval that the floods caused and many of them are really concerned about the possibilities of another flood incident. Their concerns about the government's apparent lack of action to tackle the problems leading to the floods are shared by many insurers.

Improvement of the drainage system was one of the main things that people would have like to see happening with slightly more urgency. The Association of British Insurers has called for a flood management strategy to be implemented on a long-term basis. They would like the problem of surface water drainage to be address and feel that planning for the future is needed. According to the Environment Agency, there are more than 500,000 homes at “significant flood risk”.

The government has a stated target for the building of new homes – they aim for 3 million homes to be built by 2020. The feeling is that if there is any possibility or likelihood that this may lead to more homes being built in flood risk areas, then the target should be re-assessed.

As far as the insurers are concerned, they are anxious to keep their prices as competitive as possible but it would seem obvious that if the incidence of flooding is likely to worsen due to lack of action on the government's part, then some action is needed or, understandably, the insurance industry is going to think carefully about what sort of cover they can offer in the really badly affected areas.

In the meantime, you can all the advice you need by going on-line and finding an independent broker. They'll have access to a very wide range of policies and can come up with the right choice for you, at the best possible price.