A business owner whose business was damaged in the South Yorkshire floods has warned fellow entrepreneurs about the dangers of being underinsured and cautioned that thousands of businesses risk ‘losing everything’ if they are hit.
Ms Webb was one of hundreds of residents of Fishlake who had their homes and businesses destroyed after the nearby River Don over topped its banks in November consequently flooding Fishlake. The village is still reeling from the effects of the flood, with many seeing in the New Year in temporary accommodation and businesses unable to reopen.
Her distress was compounded when she received a phone call from her insurance broker, to advise her that her policy had a flood exclusion clause and she was therefore not covered.
Ms Webb said: “This is a huge issue that will impact more and more people. People will often go through comparison sites for insurance and get the cheapest quote, but that insurer may not be signed up to Flood RE cover, may have huge excesses, or completely exclude flooding in order to pass on that cheaper price.
“People also need to realise that they are not immune to flooding because they don’t live near a river – my property and business are not near a river and look what happened me.”
Pam, who has lived at her property since 2004, said she always had cover for flooding but last year, on renewal, flood cover was excluded on both her home and business. She received the devastating news that her insurance company would not pay-out and furthermore the insurer was pulling her renewal offer.
Following a visit from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Pam contacted the PM’s office asking for help, as she had to find a new insurance provider with five days’ notice.
According to 2019 Environment Agency report, 2.4million properties are at risk from flooding from rivers and seas, whilst three million properties are at risk from surface water flooding.
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