Doncaster residents hit with soaring insurance bills can seek help

Fairer insurance rates are available for residents affected by flooding in Doncaster after last year’s deluge left many with soaring bills for adequate cover.
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Campaign group FloodRe have said that it can facilitate cheaper home insurance even for those who have been flooded in the past.

Following the Doncaster floods of 2007, people who were hit were faced with a massive hike in bills and some were not able to get protection when they went to renew their policy.

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Doncaster Mayor Ros Jones said she had been made aware of one quote for a previously flood hit home which came in at a whopping £7,500 a year for cover.

The village of Fishlake, Doncaster, submerged under flood water in November 2019The village of Fishlake, Doncaster, submerged under flood water in November 2019
The village of Fishlake, Doncaster, submerged under flood water in November 2019

Fast forward to 2019, council bosses have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that many residents are still battling with insurers to get proper payouts and cover.

Bosses at FloodRe say research shows 97 per cent of householders whose property has flooded previously are able to receive quotes from five or more insurers – compared to zero per cent before the introduction of the FloodRe Scheme.

They added that four out of five householders with previous flood claims have been able to find quotes that are more than 50 per cent cheaper.

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South Yorkshire’s four council leaders and Sheffield City Region Mayor Dan Jarvis have agreed to bring forward investment to help kick start work on nine critical flood protection schemes.

Fishlake, DoncasterFishlake, Doncaster
Fishlake, Doncaster

The £5.5million investment will aim to protect 860 homes across South Yorkshire, as well as ensuring that infrastructure including Sheffield Midland and Rotherham rail stations, major road and rail and Supertram networks, are resilient to flooding in the future.

The investment will also bring forward more measures to protect communities from surface water flooding across Doncaster and renew or improve culverts around Barnsley and the Dearne.

Dermot Kehoe, director of communications and transition at Flood Re, said: "We want to make householders in flood risk areas aware that they can benefit from affordable and accessible home insurance thanks to the Flood Re Scheme, even if their homes have been flooded previously.”

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