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The Queen’s message to those living in areas affected by the recent flooding in the United Kingdom |
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has published advice for those affected by the recent floods and (as we previously reported) Lancaster City Council has set up a Business Recovery Centre in CityLab.
Insurance Advice to those affected by the recent floods and the many problems they brought in their wake includes:
- Contacting their insurer or insurance broker and informing them before conducting any emergency repairs
- Leaving dangerous work such as fixing the roof to professionals
- Turning the power off, if safe, in a flooded home
- Ensuring homes are safe and secure before leaving to prevent further loss
- Keeping damaged items for evidence of a claim, including samples and photos of carpets, and receipts for any emergency work
Many business insurance policies cover damage to premises and stock, but loss of trading owing to interruption is usually only covered if firms have paid an extra premium as an add-on to their policy.
Council opens Business Recovery Centre
A Business Recovery Centre has opened in Lancaster City Council’s CityLab building in Dalton Square to provide help and advice to flood hit businesses to get back to normal operations as soon as possible.
The centre will be open on week days from 10.00am to 4.00pm as long as it is required. Any businesses that cannot access the centre can access advice by emailing econdev@lancaster.gov.uk or telephoning 01524 582032.
Advice will be on offer from Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, the fire service and other public agencies. Included in the advice on offer will be access to business compensation schemes that may be available to those affected, how to dispose of contaminated food/equipment safely, and returning to normal business.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service are advising local businesses to ring their local fire safety department for practical business support in regards to fire risk assessments within their workplaces. There will be a representative at the CityLab building and the department can also be contacted during office hours (9am- 4pm) on the following numbers – Morecambe 01524 230104 / Lancaster 01524 32311.
What about the train tickets?
Virgin Trains, which operates on the West Coast Mainline, said that anyone who was unable to travel would be eligible for a refund, or could use their ticket at a later date. Those whose journeys were disrupted by more than 30 minutes would also be entitled to compensation.
Those passengers who booked their ticket through the Virgin Trains website for a specific train will receive their refund automatically, but others will need to fill out a form on the website.
Subsidised insurance scheme in the pipleline
A new scheme, known as Flood Re (almost ‘Relief’ but not quite:-) has been agreed between the government and insurance industry and is planned to start in April.
Under the scheme, residential homeowners in areas with the highest flood risks should be able to shop around for insurance, because the extra risk involved will be passed from the insurer to the new industry body called Flood Re, which is sponsored by the government.
We hope to see a competitive new market for people living in flood-risk areas with more realistically achievable deals for low-income and single-person households.
Recovery Appeal Fund
Local people and businesses can donate to the Community Foundation for Lancashire Recovery Fund’s Public Appeal online via a dedicated MyDonate webpage at https://mydonate.bt.com/events/lancsfloodappeal
Alternatively text LFLD15 and the amount you would like to donate to 70070
If you have been affected by the flooding in Lancashire you can apply to the fund now. Guidelines for funding and an application form can be downloaded or completed online at http://www.lancsfoundation.org.uk/