Will it become too expensive to protect homes from flooding?

An interview was published with Emma Howard Boyd, the head of the Environment Agency, in The Times recently, in which she warned it could become too expensive to save homes that are built on flood plains.

The caveat comes after the Climate Change Committee calculated that while there are 1.9 million people living in the UK that are at “significant” risk of water flooding this number could double by 2050.

Howard Boyd also warned that traditional flood defences might not be able to prevent flooding.

This will be a worry to anyone who is living in a high risk zone– yet there will be many people who are looking to buy a home who are unaware that the property could be at risk of flooding causing additional problems relating to mortgage and insurance.

As our Chichester case study reveals, flooding is not a single peril but a combination of factors. We selected the region as an example of how FloodSmart Analytics, our newly designed product for the financial sector, helps people to better understand this risk.

It enables mortgage lenders and insurers to assess the exposure properties or even a single property will have to different types of flooding and to calculate the risk of lending or insuring on a home.

We created FloodSmart Analytics to help organisations improve their risk management decision-making.

Flood risk remains a real challenge and the problem will only escalate as global warming continues to cause chaos.

Has your organisation considered flood damage exposure? Whatever stage you are at, you should speak to our experts to see how our products could help to protect your financial risk. Contact us here – we look forward to helping you.

For more details, visit our dedicated FloodSmart Analytics page.