Christine’s Story – a Flood Re Case Study

Retiree Christine Human, from Williton in Somerset, has lived in her 300-year-old property for more than 10 years.

Having shared her joy of finally obtaining affordable home insurance thanks to Flood Re via Twitter in May, we were keen to speak directly with Christine in more detail to hear her story.

2012: Flood destruction

In November 2012, after a period of heavy rainfall, the nearby river burst its bank, compounded by local drain networks not being cleaned and a small stream nearby not being maintained, Christine’s family home was flooded.

Despite the ensuing long lasting devastation, Christine recalled the most distressing part of the flooding experience as witnessing the “speed of water coming into the house”.

As a result of the devastation to the house, Christine and her husband, Doug, were forced out of their home for 8 months – and had to endure three different moves into rented accommodation during this time. The claim for damage and temporary housing soared to over £130,000.

Once the rebuild to her home was complete, the anxiety didn’t stop. Christine was nervous leaving home in case of further flooding for the first two years, using CCTV to keep an eye on the property, as well as actively looking for flood alerts and warnings issued by the Environment Agency.

This flooding event lead to insurance costs increasing, and an enormous and unaffordable £40,000 excess being applied to their cover. Christine admitted to not sleeping well in the fear of having to fork out this much in light of another flooding occurrence.

2016: Flood Re launches

Shortly after Flood Re’s launch, Christine was “jumping for joy” as her excesses for buildings and contents insurance were both lowered to a manageable £250, having previously been tens of thousands.

Not only has Christine benefited from Flood Re, in the last few years she has welcomed neighbours either side of her home who have also managed to secure affordable insurance as a result of the scheme.

Even more recently, Christine has been able to sell her house – citing Flood Re and the changes to insurance cover making the transaction viable, instilling confidence in people looking to obtain cover in flood prone areas.