GoCompare offers advice to those affected by flood damage after storm Dennis
Storm Dennis has left thousands in the position of having to claim on car and home insurance
Lee Griffin, founder, and CEO at GoCompare gives advice to those affected:
“Storm Dennis wreaked havoc across the UK on the weekend, and while the immediate priority is to stay safe and, where necessary, find alternative accommodation, many will soon having to deal with making a claim on their car and home insurance.
“If your vehicle has suffered flood damage, call your insurer as soon as you can and follow their advice on what to do next. You’ll need a fully comprehensive policy to be able to claim for flood damage and even then, you’ll need to check your terms and conditions to see if you’re covered.
“Where flood damage is included, it will typically cover repairs to your car, including your stereo, upholstery, and carpets. Your other belongings in the car might also be covered. If they’re not, check your home insurance policy - they could be part of your personal possessions cover.
“If your car is submerged in floodwater, don’t try to start it. Drain the water if you can and allow the vehicle to dry out as much as possible.
“If you’ve been a victim of flood damage in your home before you do anything, make sure that everyone's safe, then call your insurer on its 24-hour helpline.
“Even if you’ve been forced to evacuate, make sure you leave everything as it is because your insurer needs to agree to pay for any repairs you make before they’re made unless of course, they’re emergency fixes.
“It’s also a good idea to gather evidence by taking photos and getting professional reports on the damage. This will help when consulting a loss assessor, as they’ll be able to tell you and your insurer the extent of the damage and the repairs needed.”
What might not be covered
“Home insurance policies don’t all have the same cover. Things like alternative accommodation, escape of water from within the home, fences, hedges, and gates will be treated differently by each insurer in a flood claim, so it’s important you’re checking the exclusions on your policy. Your insurer will be able to give you the detail on this.
“For car insurance, unfortunately, you won’t find flood damage cover on a third party, fire, and theft policy, so it’s important for people with this level of cover to contact their insurer to check what’s advised.
“If you’re worried about the risk in your area, check the following websites for more information about the current flood warnings or for more information, visit our guide pages here: https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/guide/flood-cover-for-cars/ and https://www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/flooding-and-home-insurance/.”
Flood risk in Northern Ireland
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About GoCompare
GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
GoCompare does not charge people to use its services, and it does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest, and has teamed up with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
GoCompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
For more information visit www.gocompare.com and www.gocomparegroup.com