Properties at risk of flooding may not get the help they need

By: PRLog
Last year’s devastating flooding in Somerset and Surrey served as a stark reminder of the impact of major weather events on communities across the UK. Now a leading damage management firm that worked extensively in last year’s horrendous flooding in Somerset and Surrey is collaborating with campaigner Mary Dhonau to highlight the need for collaboration between the Government, Communities, Emergency Services, the Insurance and Damage Management industries.
PRLog - June 18, 2015 - BRISTOL, U.K. -- An open letter is going out to the UK’s politicians calling for them to bring together the key parties in a collaborative environment and to examine the issues facing communities at risk of flooding. In particular, we would like to see them focus on community action plans and community resilience.

Steven Richford is Managing Director at Richfords Fire & Flood based in Cornwall, Devon and Hampshire:

“Currently, there is a finite capacity in the UK to respond to wide-area flooding, such as that seen Somerset and Surrey last year. Furthermore, in a larger scale incident, such as the 2007 floods in Hull and Gloucestershire, the UK’s capacity to respond is reaching breaking point.”

“We believe that communities should be helped to understand what they can do themselves and how to organise local resources, in partnership with the Fire and Rescue Services, to develop their own community action plans.”

The letter calls for the incoming government to work with Insurers, Emergency Services and the Damage Management Industry to create a more ‘joined up’ response to flooding events by adopting the best practices available. Ministers are being encouraged to enable the Fire and Rescue service and Environment Agency to develop relationships with the Damage Management sector in collaboration with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) so that the gaps in the community recovery, stabilisation and restoration timeline can be plugged. This should be undertaken within the context of a comprehensive spending plan designed to prevent flooding wherever possible.

Steven Richford adds, “Following a major flooding event, if a property is waterlogged for an extended period of time, problems such as mould growth and bacterial contamination can develop. In many cases there can be a time lag of a number of days before the right calls and connections are made to bring in specialists to prevent any secondary damage occurring. Insurers and the Damage Management Sector are already working together to reduce this gap but there is more that can be done by joining up the dots and bring the EA and the Fire and Rescue Service into the fold.”

One proposed solution for tackling this delay is based on the methodology adopted in other parts of Europe, where there is a seamless link between the emergency services’ role and the procurement of expertise from Damage Management companies. Although the Fire and Rescue Services respond to approximately 350 incidents of flooding per week, many people do not realise that their equipment is only designed for pumping deep water and once flood waters have dropped to around an inch there is no more the fire and rescue service are equipped to do. Therefore, once the bulk of the water has been taken down to a low level, the work on removing any remaining water from the property and the start of the sanitisation process must begin in earnest. If the Fire and Rescue services worked in partnership with the Damage Management Industry then the most appropriate resources could be quickly deployed and flood victims would experience a seamless link between these services.

Furthermore, we have seen in many communities’ significant resources in the form of volunteers willing to help their neighbours. This help is often critical to shortening recovery times. However, with greater access to the knowledge of what to do and with a community plan in place, to ensure the efficient distribution of resources, communities will be more resilient than ever before.

If community groups are equipped with the knowledge of what they can most effectively do in these situations, then community recovery will be quicker. The speed of recovery not only enables people’s lives to return to normal more but also can save tens of thousands of pounds for insurers in alternative accommodation and material damage costs.

Damage Management companies working more closely with the Fire and Rescue Services to form part of a community action plan will result in technicians being available to remove wet carpets, curtains and contents so that the fabric of the building is stabilised sooner. Following this “Stabilisation Phase” there is then a safe pause during which the loss adjuster and insurer become actively involved. Having this gap after stabilisation work means that insurance companies can have control over which company is brought in to carry out the bulk of the work, as many will have preferred suppliers. Thus, focusing on stabilisation works ensures that actions carried out do not prejudice insurance claims and also ensures that limited resources are deployed in the most efficient way.

A new British standard is currently being drafted by the BSI, in collaboration with the BDMA (British Damage Management Association). It is expected that, likely, this standard will be in keeping with the current BDMA standard which includes restricting the stabilisation phase to a specific scope of works. Compliance with this standard would mean that insurers could be confident that such work would be undertaken solely for the purpose of preventing avoidable secondary damage – and effectively saving them money.

From this point, the insurer can either bring in their own contractor to carry out the refurbishment, or get a quote from the damage management firm that was brought in by the fire service for the recovery work, hence maintaining control of the overall project.

But who should pay for this? Essentially, there would be no change from the current situation where the insurer pays for the damage management response and stabilisation. What is different is that a new collaborative method would cut response times and ultimately the amount spent on insurance.

In addition to the financial benefits above, this new approach could also reduce the massive personal impacts on insurance policy holders.

Mary Dhonau OBE HonRICS is chair of the Flood Protection Group of the Property Care Association. She said:

“Being forced out of your home when you get flooded is extremely upsetting and stressful. Removing 'wet stuff' out of a newly flooded home quickly is incredibly important, as are beginning the drying process and reducing the length of time people are displaced. Furthermore, it could save the insurance industry the costs incurred when buildings are subjected to prolonged exposure to trapped water”.

We believe there are three main areas where the current arrangements could be improved upon:

* Collaboration: Property owners have a duty to reduce their insurer’s losses following an incident but often do not know where to turn. Sometimes, the fire and rescue service is called out when it is not able to help. We believe that customers would be served better and experience a more seamless process if collaborative relationships could be enabled between insurers, emergency services and the damage management sector.

* Information: We believe there needs to be better access to information so that consumers can access vital online resources through their mobile phones or other communications channels and community facilities. This could be achieved even after a property has been devastated by fire or flooding using modern technologies. A good example of this being done currently elsewhere is in the motor sector. A customer can often access an app that will enable them to make an assessment of the damage and begin the recovery process. There may be lessons property insurance could learn from the technology adopted in motor insurance. With greater access to information, insured customers will be empowered to take action to reduce damage and costs without prejudicing their claim. For example; most people will carry out obvious actions following an incident such as moving undamaged furniture out of harm’s way. However, if there was a greater resource of information, property owners could be empowered to understand what they can safely, legally and helpfully do, without prejudicing their claims. This could prevent significant damage.

* Practical Help: Policyholders need to be able to carry out actions confidently or bring in qualified contractors to assist them without being concerned that they might prejudice their claim. We believe that enabling customers to feel confident about using qualified contractors, who are working to recognised British standards (eg: electricians), properties can be quickly stabilised and further damage can be prevented.

So, in brief, taking forward action to reduce the delay would bring the following benefits:

·         Supporting flood victims

·         Cost savings for fire service

·         Cost savings for insurers

·         Help improve fire service response times.

END.

Contact: Michael Cooper 01209 722522 / 07968 175455

Notes for editors:

More about Richfords:

·         More information about Richfords can be found online at www.richfords.com

·         Richfords Fire and Flood is a member of the BDMA (British Damage Management Association)

·         Richfords have depots at Cullompton, Redruth and Binfield

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