Flood victims face a new nightmare trying to insure their homes
FLOOD victims in Pontypridd have been left unable to afford home insurance after being quoted “astronomical prices” following Storm Dennis.
A number of residents have only just recovered from the damage caused by the heavy rainfall and serious flooding in February 2020 nearly a year and a half on.
But now they are faced with another blow as they say they cannot afford home insurance as firms quote them “astronomical” prices for flood insurance, or won’t offer them flood cover at all in case it happens again.
It means residents have been left with no option but to go without home insurance or flood cover if they have found an affordable premium – which after what happened back in February last year remains essential.
Caroline Hughes, 58, has two properties on Sion Street in Pontypridd. Both houses were badly flooded after Storm Dennis.
The two buildings were insured with the same company, with the same premium, but it only paid out for the damage to one.
The firm paid out more than £38,000 when the whole downstairs of one property was completely flooded.
The damage to the properties was “devastating”, said Caroline. The walls were hacked off and new damp proofing was installed as well as having all the electrics and plumbing redone.
“The water went up to the fourth step of the stairs, it was terrible, the whole downstairs was a write-off,” Caroline said.
But due to an endorsement in the fine print of the other property, Caroline had to foot the bill. It has to be dried out by an industrial heater and the property’s electrics and kitchen needed replacing – something which she said nearly broke her financially.
Caroline said: “The both properties were so badly flooded. If this were to happen again it would ruin me financially, I can’t afford to do it again.
“If it happens again I’ve had it, it would be devastating. I can’t afford what I’ve gone through after the floods, to have to go through that again but with both houses this time. At least one of them was covered by insurance last time.”
As a landlord Caroline has always used an insurance broker to get her the best deals for her houses. Since the floods, however, she said it has been impossible to get reasonable home insurance that also included flood cover.
Caroline said: “I’ve had to insure one property without flood cover and a second, where it’s proving impossible to get any insurance at all, I’ve even been quoted upwards of £950 for a year policy without flood cover and with a £15,000 excess, which is totally ridiculous.
“After you make a claim you’re done for then, you can’t get any insurance then for flood cover.
“Even though I couldn’t claim on the one property, it’s the same situation because they look at the postcode and this will be the same for the next five years.
“The insurance brokers have said that the insurers will only give me insurance without flood cover at astronomical prices, but that’s no good to me.”
Leah Arundel-Daly, from Nantgarw, was also affected by the flooding of Storm Dennis. Repairs to her house took more than 10 months.
She said: “All of my downstairs was flood damaged, I had two cars written off. All downstairs furniture was lost, the kitchen and bathroom suite were ripped out, plaster taken off the wall back to brick up to about 5ft, front and back doors changed, all flooring removed including stairs carpet.
“There were definitely sleepless nights.
“We’ve since had to pay out of our own pockets to install flood prevention flood gates, non return valves, and self sealing water bricks at a cost of £2,000.”
Leah had quotes that were double what she was paying before the floods, and said she has since learnt to make sure she reads the fine print of insurance
policies to see what they include and if there are any clauses in the contract.
She said: “It is just another source of constant worry. My insurer refused to offer us cover and we struggled to find any insurer willing to take us on.
“I was also angry that insurers seem to be trying to catch people out with hidden conditions. I found that numerous insurers said that flood cover is included, but when I read the fine print I found that it was only included if the flood happened during what they define as a storm. It really is so unfair.
“In the end I managed to get insurance, but the premium significantly increased, meaning that something else will have to be sacrificed in order to afford it.”
Pontypridd MS Mick Antoniw and Alex DaviesJones, MP for Pontypridd, are calling on the insurance industry to address the rise in premiums after the flooding.
Residents approached both parties saying their home and contents insurance premiums rose by more than 100%. One resident reported a rise in premium of more than 400%.
Mr Antoniw said: “The insurance industry as a whole needs to rethink how it is treating people, who in many cases have been long-standing customers and are finding that their insurers are effectively deserting them just when they need them most.”
Ms Davies-Jones said: “We are also very concerned that the majority of people who we have spoken to reported that their insurers did not refer to the FloodRe scheme, run by the UK Government and insurers with the aim of making flood cover more affordable, which is unacceptable.
“I directly raised this with the Minister for Flooding and yet still no action has been taken.
“For some residents these huge increases mean that they simply can’t afford cover and leaves others unable to get cover at all. The insurance industry needs to play fair and step up and offer premiums which are affordable for all.”