The FloodFlash annual magazine: flexible flood insurance

Authored by FloodFlash

In the penultimate article of our annual magazine, we look at how FloodFlash can help provide flexible flood insurance to the businesses that need it most – in more ways than one.

With a FloodFlash policy, clients are in control. They choose where to place the smart sensor and how high their trigger depths are, and they choose how much payout they receive and how they spend it. Our flexible flood insurance has several benefits for at-risk clients: more autonomy, more coverage, and more affordable premiums.

FloodFlash is a great solution when traditional insurers aren’t offering flood terms. But brokers and agents are increasingly using the sensor in more and more innovative ways. Here are a few examples.

1. Flood insurance that fills gaps and tops up limits

Clients can use FloodFlash to cover an excess or to top up existing cover. The cover works like any other FloodFlash policy: clients choose their trigger depth(s) and payout value(s), and when water reaches that depth, we pay out. That gives clients a few benefits. Not only do they get a smart sensor that pays out rapidly, but they can receive their FloodFlash payout without claiming on their traditional cover.

2. Flood insurance that works with physical resilience measures

Most traditional flood insurance policies don’t take into consideration flood resilience measures.
At FloodFlash, when clients have physical resilience measures in place, they can choose higher trigger depths, lowering their premiums.

Whether it’s stairs leading up to the property, flood walls, or simply raising stock, a FloodFlash policy rewards resilience measures.

FloodFlash in practice: Pharmaceutical facility in Boston, US

One of our clients, a medical manufacturing facility in Boston, Massachussetts, is a great example of how resilient businesses can choose higher trigger depths.

They have a 60cm flood wall around the property – so that’s where their first trigger is. This significantly reduced the cost for the facility, allowing them to take out a higher payout to cover business interruption as well as property damage.

3. Flood insurance that covers two different risks

20% of UK commercial properties are at risk of flooding from more than one source. For example, they may be at risk from surface water flooding because they are at the bottom of a hill, and river flooding because a river runs past the property. This may lead to there being two different ideal places to place the sensor on the building’s footprint. Clients can choose to have two sensors – one for each risk. That way, the policy protects clients from whichever source of flooding.

4. Flood insurance that protects vehicles, crops, or other items

Sometimes, a flood may not cause much damage to a building, but will affect other important items. As clients can use their FloodFlash payout for any costs, many of our brokers have used it to help protect their clients’ non-property goods.

Take a farm. If a farm experiences a flood, often the most significant impact will be crop loss. Many farmers with a FloodFlash policy install their sensor to the farmhouse, or another outbuilding, even though a flood will have limited impact on this building. If a flood hits, they can use their FloodFlash payout to cover the loss of income those crops would have provided.

When farms experience a loss, crop damage is often a more significant impact than damage to the buildings. A FloodFlash policy will cover any costs caused by a flood.

5. Flood insurance that includes non-damage business interruption

Low level flooding often results in limited damage to the property itself. This is especially the case if there are resilience measures in place or steps leading to the property’s entrance.

However, a flood can cause significant business interruption. Flood water may block a road to the property and limit access. With traditional cover, there would be no basis for a claim in this case. With FloodFlash, if water meets the chosen trigger depth, clients can use the pre-agreed payout for any costs.

Water may not cause significant damage to a property, but it may still cause disruption in the form of business interruption.

Take a shop – a flood, however small, will likely result in customers being unable to reach the property, or delay the delivery of stock. Having a small payout when water reaches a low trigger depth can help cover short-term BI.