Flood claims ‘could total £1 billion’

Claims made by the thousands of Britons who have been affected by the recent floods and storms could total some £1 billion, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has commented.

The figure follows estimates by the ABI that 27,000 homes and 5,000 businesses experienced damage as a result of the recent inclement conditions.

Extra insurers are already being redeployed to visit properties as quickly as possible, the ABI’s director general Stephen Haddrill said, but even with these emergency measures “normal standards of service” could not be delivered.

Outlining how older customers, those with health difficulties and families were being supported first, Mr Haddrill added: “We hope that other people can bear with us as we work through the backlog. We will reach everyone as soon as we can.”

Insurer Zurich says it has received more than 2,600 claims in the last ten days as a result of the flooding and has flown in loss-adjusters from the Europe, US and Australia to cope with the problem.

Jon Cawley, UK property claims operations manager for Zurich, said: “This flooding is taking longer to clear than previous flooding, for example in Boscastle three years ago.”

Tags: Types of insurance, Zurich, operations manager, insurer, storms, flooding, claims operations, Outlining