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How can insurers reduce the impact of flooding claims on families?

16th August 2019
Rain and flooding

When flooding occurs, the effects are felt across the whole community, however, studies have shown that the impact on families and children in particular can be severe. At Plastic Surgeon we believe that the impact can be reduced by working with all parties involved to reduce the time the customer is out of their property.

One in six properties in England is at risk of flooding, with more severe events expected over the coming years. It is therefore inevitable that many children and their families will be affected.

Save the Children believe that the emotional impact of floods continues to cause severe psychological symptoms up to two years following a flood. In children, this can have significant detrimental impacts on their development.

Flooding causes disruption to children’s lives at home, at school and in their community. We believe that by adopting a restoration approach to insurance claims we can help reduce the time out of the property and the effect on children.

Quick return to pre-loss conditions is key

Chris Edwards, head of insurance at Plastic Surgeon explains:

“A restoration approach enables policyholders to return to pre-loss condition significantly sooner than a replacement approach”.

Continued Chris: “This ensures that we can reduce the potential impact, getting people back to normal as quickly and with as less impact as possible.

“In severe cases policyholders may need to move out of their home whilst areas of the property are replaced.  With a restoration approach, the majority of work is carried out on the same day, minimising the impact ensuring that children can carry on with their day to day lives.

Restoring much loved items

“We also believe that children feel more at ease having their loved, and familiar items being restored back to their former glory rather than being replaced with items they don’t recognise, which again can lessen the impact the process has on them.

“We do find that children in particular are fascinated with the work that we do, the processes that are involved and that we can restore their home in a matter of days.

“We continue to work with bodies such as the BDMA in developing other ways in which we and the industry can ensure that we are continually improving our processes to reduce the impact that flood damage can have on families, children and the vulnerable”.

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