UK Winter Storm and Flood Claims Update

Expert in this field

Issued at 16:30 on Monday 4 January 2016

Storm Frank

The damage caused by Storm Frank has been far less than Storms Eva or Desmond – representing just 10% of the total storm and flood claims numbers that we’ve received in December 2015, to date. From this last event, 76% of claims received have been for storm and 24% for flood – 16% of the total are commercial claims.

The majority of flood claims came from Scotland – Dumfries, Ballater and Peebles were worst hit. However, we’ve received significant numbers of storm claims from other areas across the UK, including Yorkshire, Humberside, Wales, East and West Midlands, Northern Ireland and many areas in the Southwest.

We’re still receiving loss instructions and we’re expecting a busy week ahead as customers start to actively progress their claims after the New Year weekend. We’ve made a good start – many customers have already been visited by one of our specialist property adjusters, and almost all have been contacted and have visits arranged.

Storm Eva

So far, Storm Eva represents just over a third of the total storm and flood claims that we received in December, to date. The percentage of flood claims is slightly higher than Storm Desmond, currently running at around 57% of the overall total. We also have a relatively high proportion (30%) of commercial claims. The majority of customers have already been visited or appointments made for the coming week.

Storm Desmond

Storm Desmond represents 56% of the total storm and flood claims received so far this winter. Just under half of our instructions from this event are for flood-affected properties.

Our Response

Our Claims Centres will be working extended hours this week – their key priority is to make sure that all customers with new claims are contacted and visits arranged as swiftly as possible.

In Cumbria, we’ve created three operational areas across the region to make sure that our follow-up is locally focused. Project Managers have been appointed and are responsible for progressing and driving the activity programme for every claim within their area. This will make sure that continuity and consistency is monitored at each stage in the reinstatement process. This model will be extended across other flood areas.

24/7 Emergency HelpLine: 0345 604 8580

Staffing of our 24/7 emergency HelpLine has been increased for this week, which will continue until call volumes decrease.

WeatherNet Forecast

More rain is forecast for Wednesday. The rainfall is expected to be heaviest across Central Scotland, Wales, the Northeast, Northwest the Southwest – currently, many of these areas still have flood warnings in place.

Next Update

We’ll continue to monitor the forecast for rain on Wednesday and will provide a further update once there is more to report.