how to survive a home flood
my kitchen during flat flood 1.0 renovations
if you follow me on instagram (@bintabuheh) you’ll know i recently had a flat flood. if you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know this is not my first, but my second flat flood! i’ve learnt a fair bit over the years so, in case it ever happens to you, here is everything i know about how to survive a home flood. before you start, you might want to make a cup of tea and find somewhere comfortable to sit - there’s a lot to cover!
first things first, when you move into a new home do three things:
get insurance. there are two types of home insurance: buildings insurance and contents insurance. the former protects your internal and external walls, floors, ceilings, electrics, plumbing, kitchen and bathroom. the latter protects your belongings - the things that would move if you rattled your home eg furniture, clothes, art work etc. in short, you always need both. you'll need both insurances to protect against flooding, but also fire, burglary, etc.
keep your receipts. when you move home you often buy new furniture, decor, electronics etc. in the event of a claim where you cannot produce evidence of your belongings e.g. burglary or fire, you will need some sort of evidence that you actually owned the belongings you are claiming for. this stops people from committing insurance fraud. bank statements and up to date photos can also be used as supporting evidence.
befriend your neighbours. i left home at 18 and have lived alone for the majority of my adult life. no matter how independent you think you are, you will always need the help of others and they/yours. when you move in, make a point of introducing yourself to those who live either side and opposite you. send christmas/season greeting cards and write your flat/house number next to your name. most neighbours will reciprocate. keep a note of your neighbours names/addresses. also, be neighbourly - this should go without saying, but you’d be surprised! - greet them in communal areas, call them by their name when you see them, accept their post when they’re not home, water their plants when they’re away, take in any packages left on their doorstep and deliver it to them later when you know they’re home, etc etc. in time, swap numbers with your neighbours. if there’s a neighbour you trust, swap spare keys with them.
if/when a flood happens:
make sure everyone in the property is awake and out of danger. do not use electricity, including lights. check on your neighbours who you know for certain will be affected e.g. if water is coming from your ceiling and you live in flat, check on your upstairs neighbours.
try to establish the water source - is the water coming from one of your pipes? your neighbour’s pipe? another property? how is the water entering the property e.g. through drains, ceiling cracks, light switches etc
call the fire bridgade. explain the extent of the issue - is there water in the electrics? are there any children, elderly or disabled individuals in the property? they can cut off the water supply, provide sandbags and security e.g. if they had to break a door down to gain access. if you live in a flat, also contact your housing association/property manager.
alert your neighbours who are in close proximity. they may not be directly affected but they can help and, in my experience, will want to help.
take photos and videos of everything which demonstrates the extent of the issue. keep records of timings - when you noticed the flood, what time you called the fire brigade, what time they arrived, etc. you will need to provide all of this to insurance.
move any personal belongings away from the flood source. if possible, remove it from the property altogether. this is where your neighbours can help.
try to mop up any water to limit the damage. my neighbours helped with this both times. my first flood happened around 4/5am. my neighbours arrived immediately, in their pyjamas, with their mops and buckets to help me mop up the water. i was at work during the second flood and my neighbour used my spare key to enter my flat with the fire brigade, and mopped up all the water for me before i got home. unreal kindness both times!
call your insurance. give as much detail as you can. if its a flood, rather than a leak, they will appoint a loss adjuster. this is someone who works on behalf of the insurance company to liaise between you and the insurance company, and manage your claim from start to finish.
the insurance or loss adjuster will employ an electrician to ensure electrics are safe. if they are unsafe they will cut off the electricity supply immediately to avoid any harm or damage.
your loss adjuster will visit your property as soon as possible. in my first flood they attended on the second or third day. in my second flood it took them two weeks. they will determine if your home is habitable, and if not, will organise alternative accommodation. this is provided in one of two ways - they will either find you a similar size property, or hotel, in your local home or work area, or they will pay you a day rate for each day you cannot live in your property and you will have to organise your own accommodation e.g. staying with friends or family. you cannot accept the alternative accommodation fee and continue to live in your property.
the loss adjuster will also employ a drying specialist to assess the water damage. they will use various equipment to read the moisture levels in the walls, floors and ceilings. the moisure level is sometimes measured on a scale of 0 to 999 - in both of my floods there were readings of 999! the drying specialist will also take photos, videos and make notes of the extent of the damage. they will provide drying equipment if needed and make initial assessments about the extent of the damage and repairs needed. this will be shared with the loss adjuster. you have the right to see the report, but will most likely need to request a copy.
your loss adjuster will send you insurance paperwork to sign, to confirm the claim. at this point they will address paying your excess - in both of my floods, this fee was subtracted from the sum insurance later paid out to me. they will also ask for paperwork to confirm your identity e.g. passport and birth certificate. again, to prevent insurance fraud.
the loss adjuster will employ a contractor to conduct the repairs. you are usually asked if you know of a contractor that you prefer to use, or they will choose from a list they work with regularly. for both of my floods, the insurance/loss adjuster appointed their own contractor.
the loss adjuster and contractor will agree the work that needs to be conducted. in the second flood, a surveyor was appointed to confirm the work suggested by the drying specialist. in this case, the loss adjuster, contractor and surveyor will need to agree the proposed work.
work cannot commence until a drying certificate is issued. this is issued by the drying specialists. this will require them to revisit your property, measure moisture levels again and determine if the walls, ceiling etc are dry enough for work (even if walls, ceilings etc will be removed during the renovation work). when the certificate is issued, the drying specialist will also remove any drying equipment they installed in their initial visit.
you will usually have to wait a lead time for contractors to be available to start work. this is usually around 2 weeks.
contractors will remove and dispose of any damaged items e.g. flooring, plasterboard, built in furniture etc. they can then rebuild your home. they will usually replace everything like for like. if you get a good contractor they will let you make small changes, provided it doesn’t create any additional work e.g. changing the radiators, if they have to remove and reinstall them anyway.
the loss adjuster will keep an eye on the renovation work. you can visit/monitor etc as often or rarely as you wish - i generally visit once a week.
once all the work is complete, the loss adjuster will visit to sign off. they will report to the insurance company that the claim is resolved.
insurance will close your claim and send you the final report.
top tips:
if you pay a service charge, check if insurance is included and what is covered
make sure you have both contents and buildings insurance - can’t stress this enough!
when choosing your insurance, think carefully about the fee and excess. a high excess (how much you have to pay to make a claim) usually means a low monthly/annual fee and vice versa. think how much you can afford to pay per month/year, knowing you'll (hopefully) rarely make a claim, but also how much can you afford to part with for the excess should you need to make a claim (think about how much you have in savings, access to credit cards etc). also bear in mind that monthly/annual fees will increase after each claim. for example, in my 2019 flood, i had basic contents insurance. i paid just over £4 per month for cover (i don't have any high value belongings like jewellery, tv, etc) and my excess is £700 (too high in hindsight!). when i made a claim, they paid out £1000s and my insurance premium only increased to just over £5 per month following my claim.
someone once told me to only take out insurance with a company which is underwritten by a bank. im not sure it makes a difference, but its advice i follow
make sure you save your insurance company’s contact details in your phone, along with any reference numbers
keep a record of suppliers, paint colours etc when you do any home renovation. this info will be useful for contractors conducting repairs, and can potentially speed up the process of making your home habitable again
if you have to move out of your property, and you live in the uk, pay royal mail to redirect your post. this will ensure your post is safe, whilst avoiding any impact on your credit rating caused by changing addresses
also, if you have to move out of your property, pause any services you can't take with you e.g. broadband supplier
be patient. this will take time to resolve and it’s traumatic, but know its temporary. accept support from friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, your therapist etc.
i think thats everything... thanks for reading and i hope it helps, but mostly i hope you’ll never need it x