[Ben Dere Dun Dat]

I live in UK and my house is in an area at risk from flooding, although I've never known it to flood in the 10 years I've lived here. A few years back the Environment Agency set up a telephone flood warning system whereby if you register for it, you receive automated telephoned flood warnings. Naturally I thought this was a good idea and I registered about 3 years ago, and since then have received 3 warnings, one at about 3am, waking me up! When I receive these warnings I always wonder what I should do. Carry all my belongings and furniture upstairs? In the end I did nothing and went back to bed, and of course the predicted flood never happened.
The question is, if one day I receive a warning, take no action as usual, and then the house does get flooded, would my insurance company penalize me because I hadn't taken any action despite being warned?
I'm thinking of withdrawing from the scheme for this reason.

[Chicken B]

I'm sure the rules are different here in the US, but I do know that most major companies do not cover for flood here. If you live in a flood zone, you are strongly encouraged to carry flood insurance (as a separate policy as your homeowners). Flood insurance here in Ohio runs around $140 per year, and will normally be offered by your insurance company from a third party. (here, it is the NFIP). I've never heard of being penalized for not taking appropriate action of safeguarding your belongings, although I would do so with things you cannot replace for monetary value. Things like furniture and appliances would be replaced under a flood policy at replacement cost.

[Tom F]

I expect there in the UK that flood insurance is purchased as a separate policy (as it is here in the US)! While I would not want to lose all my worldly possessions, my greatest concern would be for the lives of my family, and myself! Remember there are different degrees of flooding...is it just going to fill the lower part of your house with water, or is is going to wash your house totally away?
As to the cost of flood insurance, it will vary greatly by where you live, and the possible severity of a flood if it happens.

[Bharat]

No, your insurance company won't penalize you . . . because your homeowners policy doesn't cover FLOOD. Yep, that's right, there's NO FLOOD INSURANCE in the UK, to the best of my knowledge.

So, the FLOOD will penalize you. You'll lose your stuff, or at least have a huge mess to clean up.

So, NOW what will you do?

[samantha mae]

Whatever you do when you get these warnings, do not drive. There are many drownings when cars caught washed off roads by flood waters.

[ecemajor]

O.k it's a little hard to tell you what to do because in United State the rules are a little bit different than U.K. I can suggest to you to go to your insurance company and try to deal with them..Sorry my man... I feel deeply sad for what happened to you. Take Careyourself Peter.