With the purpose to help build properties back in a more sustainable, flood-resilient way, Ageas was one of the first insurers in the UK to sign up to Flood Re’s Build Back Better (BBB) scheme.
In October 2023, Storm Babet hit the UK. Many areas were left devastated by high winds and heavy rains and as a result, many people became victims of extreme flooding.
Living in Nottingham, Chris Simson, his wife and son were among those whose home was affected by flooding.
With an amber weather warning forecasted on the news telling him it was likely they would flood, Chris and his family had some time to prepare.
Chris said: “We had time to move some things upstairs and raise the sofas onto bricks”.
“We were outside the house during the morning. We were trying to keep water at bay the best we could, but it reached a certain point when it just overflowed and there was nothing else we could do. The pump was working, but it just couldn’t hold back the flood water”.
As the house had flooded before in 2020, Chris had some measures in place. As well as the pump and the bricks to raise the sofa, there was also a flood barrier he believed had been in place since 2013. Being an older model, this barrier was heavy and required an allen key.
Chris recalls: “When we moved in in 2017, I knew there was some kind of problem. We live on a floodplain, and in 2023 the river at the bottom of the garden burst its banks. The flood barrier was on the door, but water still came through”.
Chris and his family were relocated to a nearby part of Nottingham.
In January 2024, just two months after the initial flood, Storm Henk hit, flooding Chris’ house again.
Chris said: “There was nothing left to damage. Water was now coming up through the toilet in the shower room, it felt like we were back to square one. My insurer confirmed it would be treated as a continuation of my 2023 claim rather than a new one”.
He added: “The loss adjusters then brought up that we would be eligible* for the Build Back Better scheme”.
An application was submitted with the surveyor on Chris’ behalf, and under the BBB criteria it was then approved.
With the aim to reduce the impact and cost of future floods, BBB offers eligible* customers the opportunity to install Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures when repairing their property after a flood.
After the surveyor’s assessment of suitable PFR measures for the house, Chris opted to install flood barriers to the front, side, and rear patio door areas, which included replacing the older barrier.
Chris said: “I was very happy with Ageas’s response both times. It was all very efficient and I was happy with the people I dealt with”.
*Ageas offers Build Back Better for flood events that occur on or after 1 June 2022 for customers who have:
- Buildings insurance with us
- A property in a high-risk flood area and/or have suffered previous flooding within the last 5 years
- Damage caused by coastal, river or flash flooding, where water has entered the building
- A claim expected to cost over £10,000, being managed by our loss adjusters
Flood Re
A joint initiative between the insurance industry and government, Flood Re is a re-insurance scheme that makes flood cover more widely available and affordable as part of home insurance.
