UK Floods – Client Bulletin 27/12

Expert in this field

Issued at 1300 on Sunday 27 December

As you will have seen in the news, unprecedented heavy rain in the Northwest and Yorkshire over Christmas has caused widespread flooding in York, Leeds and some parts of Lancashire. It’s affected many small towns and villages in Aire, Wharfe and Calder valleys, as well as Ilkley and Otley. Areas around the Ribble Valley in Lancashire are also flooded, including Whalley.

Electricity North West has said that more than 7,500 customers in Greater Manchester and Lancashire are without power, including 5,500 homes in Rochdale.

The weather is predicted to be generally dry over the next few days, although further rain is expected for Wednesday 30 December.

Flood alerts

The Environmental Agency has 24 severe (danger to life) flood warnings and 117 flood warnings (flooding is expected, immediate action required) in force across the Northeast. A further 12 flood warnings remain in place for the Northwest, with 106 flood alerts for many other areas in Wales, the Midlands and the Southwest.

Emergency Helpline

Our 24/7 helpline is currently operating at 20% above surge levels and was very busy on Boxing Day to this morning. Staffing has been further increased.

If you urgently need help, please contact the helpline on 0345 604 8580.

Ready to respond

We’re unlikely to get a clearer picture of claims numbers until the full impact of recent rainfall on river flow has materialised and customers report their claims to their insurers.

However we’re working on the basis that this latest bout of flooding will be another significant claims event.

Our teams in Yorkshire and Lancashire are ready to provide on the ground support, just as soon as the floodwaters have receded.

The major sinkhole that’s appeared on the M62 will make any east to west travel challenging in the immediate future. Our preliminary plans are to pair up our London and South East teams with the local adjusters in Yorkshire, and the Midlands team with adjusters in Lancashire, to avoid crossing the Pennines.

We can report some good news – a number of our specialist property adjusters, from Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa will be arriving in the UK from 5 January, which will boost our expert technical resources across the flood stricken areas.