Three More Insurers Join Flood Re Scheme

As winter approaches, it’s a good time to think about flood prevention. Three more leading UK insurers have joined the world-leading Build Back Better Scheme, which aims to reduce the impact of future flooding for households. The scheme has now gained the support of around 60% of the UK’s residential property insurance market with the support of three more major insurers following commitments today from Covea, Hiscox and RSA.

Build Back Better, launched by Flood Re, the joint initiative between the UK insurance industry and the UK Government to promote the availability and affordability of flood insurance, enables participating insurers to offer customers access to reimbursement costs of up to £10,000, over and above work to repair damage and loss caused by a flood.

The funds, which insurers can claim back from Flood Re, can be used to pay for the installation of flood resilience measures such as raised electrical sockets, self-closing air bricks, non-return valves, along with flood resistant doors and the replacement of wooden floors with waterproof tiling and grout. The scheme also covers the cost of surveys to understand the flood risk and potential mitigation of individual properties.

Investing in property level flood resilience measures lessens the impact of future flooding, enabling householders to return to their homes sooner and significantly reducing the stress and trauma associated with flooding. It also improves the resilience of the UK’s overall housing stock to the impacts of the UK’s changing climate.

The three new insurers join the initial participating insurers, Ageas, Aviva, NFU Mutual, Lloyds Banking Group (Bank of Scotland, Halifax, and Lloyds Bank home insurance products) and LV= General Insurance.

Tim Slattery, Personal Lines Underwriting Manager, Hiscox UK, said:

“Helping customers to better protect their homes from flooding is in everyone’s interest. Claims of this nature are distressing and disruptive and often lead to a great deal of waste and demand for new materials as the damage is repaired. This practical and innovative scheme will elevate the resilience of UK housing stock and help those who are affected by flooding return to their normal lives more quickly.”

Suzy Tiffany, Personal Lines Claims Director at RSA Insurance, said:

“We want to support our customers in protecting themselves against this increasing risk. It’s no small task, but it is important that the UK’s housing stock is futureproofed by strengthening flood resilience. The Build Back Better scheme works towards that goal, and we’re delighted to be a part of it.”