Flash floods make rain top UK insurance risk
Flooding is the biggest ‘act of nature’ insurance risk, according to the non-life actuarial and business consultancy EMB, topping the list of problems ahead of heat and wind.
Before 2007 UK insurers were meeting a large number of claims caused by heat, as subsidence caused damage to properties across the country. Heat is now relegated to third place in the ‘acts of nature insurance league table’ as the wet weather of 2007 has driven flood claims and eased the risk of subsidence. “The issue of flooding used to be a problem restricted to people living close to rivers and coasts,” said Karl Murphy, partner at EMB. “Most insurance companies had previously based their calculations on river flood models. However 2007’s floods hit people previously unaffected by such conditions and companies are now having to modify their pricing strategies.”
