UK Flood Risk Statistics: Looking at the data

How likely is my property to flood?

Data collected by FloodFlash from the Ordnance Survey, JBA, and the Environment Agency, helps us to understand the threat that flooding poses to UK businesses. The data also includes the experience of financial decision makers and insurance brokers, noting their experience of flood insurance trends over the years.

How likely are commercial properties to flood?

• In Britain, there are around 1.6 million commercial properties
• 27% of these have at least a low flood risk
• The chance of a property in this bracket experiencing a flood is 1 in 50

Moderate risk of flooding means a property has a 1 in 10 risk of flooding over a 20 year period. 18.1% of commercial properties have a moderate flood risk.

Significant risk means a flood will happen at least once in a 75 year period, and that the property has a 1 in 3 risk of flooding over a 25 year period. 14.4% have a significant flood risk.

Where does the flood risk come from?

Many believe flooding is mostly caused by overflowing rivers or storm surges, this is untrue. Many operators who are based in areas away from rivers or coastlines believe they are not at risk of flooding. However, with increasing development, surface water flooding is now the biggest flood threat to commercial property in Britain. 

There is a quite drastic disillusionment with the existing risk, as the data suggests 346,719 properties are at risk of surface water flooding, where as 144,789 are at risk of river flooding, and 31,236 at risk from coastal flooding.

Flood insurance questions

Is flood insurance difficult to get?

No, flood insurance that is appropriate for your business is available through a dedicated broker. Increased uncertainty around flood risks is causing many traditional insurers to exclude flood or impose excesses and limits even when there have been no floods in recent history. But with Romero Insurance Brokers, we know how to assess the risk and its importance for commercial businesses.

Is there flood technology that can help reduce the risk for commercial businesses? 

Technology can help improve the speed and simplicity of arranging flood insurance. Commercial business owners need to be open to the idea of technology in insurance.

Technology, such as Floodflash’s smart sensor, offers rapid claims and affordable premiums. It works by measuring water depth at the property, providing real-time data to the client and insurers.

How bad for businesses is the impact of flooding?

Clean up and repair are only a partial impact when considering the effects of flooding. Over a quarter of businesses experienced prolonged business interruption upon a flood occurring. This impact is often excluded in insurance policies, but business interruption needs to be taken into account.

– A shocking statistic by Business in the Community, 40% of UK businesses close after a flooding.