As you know, we've once again being hit by monsoon-like rains which has left much of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire completely swamped. 5 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period in some of these areas which has resulted in particularly severe flooding.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes with others being rescued by air or by boat. Unfortunately, going by reports coming in from the weatherman, it's likely that downpours will continue during the week ahead and more towns and villages are likely to be affected.

The damage from this extreme weather is more related to flooding caused by rising water levels rather than storm related flooding as the ground is so saturated, that it can't absorb more water.

Our Emergency Response Plan continues to be in place. Here's an update on what we're doing in response to the latest flood crisis.

• We're mobilising all our resources into the affected regions and we'll do our best to minimise the impact on you and your brokers/customers.
• The Major Incident Response Plan continues to be in place - with the team fully committed to responding to their customer's needs as fast as they can.
• Hotel and rental accommodation is in short supply in some areas and we've purchased 200 mobile caravans which can be parked on or near the customer's property. These will be used primarily by people who don't want to move away from their home.
• In Motor, claims teams are dealing with higher volumes and this is expected to continue throughout this week. Assessments to establish total loss followed by speedy settlements will be made where possible and field engineers are on site in the worst affected areas to mitigate the trauma felt by many.
• Commercial motor customers were contacted to keep track of areas in danger of flooding and move cars away if necessary.
• NUI has also made a £100k donation to local flood relief charities.

Claim line numbers

Please ensure that you and you customers are aware of our 24 hour helpline. Our helpline should be called as soon as possible to notify us about the claim:

0800 01 23 45 for Household
0500 11 44 77 for Commercial Property
0800 67 89 99 for Motor

For customers who suffered serious damage to their premises, brokers can ask them to call us directly for advice on emergency repairs to protect their property from any further damage and to get an estimate. We can approve emergency repairs up to £1,000 straightaway.

What can you do to help us?

You can help by communicate the following to your customers:

• Customers need to be clear and precise about the date that damage was sustained and the exact nature of the damage.
• Brokers can help customers by compiling an inventory of their damaged personal and business property (including age, manufacturer, model, model number, date of purchase and current purchase price).
• Customers should be encouraged to take photographs of the damage if they have a camera at hand.
• Brokers should make sure that they have the client's policy number when making a claim and that the client has provided us with up-to-date home and mobile numbers (so that we can get in touch if we need to without delay).
• Brokers should help customers understand that non urgent claims will take a little longer to be dealt with

It is in these traumatic times that the real value of insurance cover comes to the fore. It's a testing time for our industry. Once again, thanks for your continuing support.

Published: 30/07/2007