Climate Change and Home / Building Insurance
Whether it’s direct or indirect, climate change and the effects it has are starting to have an impact on every aspect of life. And one huge part of your life is the place you live. Homes as well as commercial premesis, depending on the location, can be more susceptible to climate change than others. Flooding is just one thing which is on the up thanks to climate change, and this can impact home insurance premiums. So how does that have an effect, and what are the other impacts climate change is having on homes and home insurance as well as commercial property insurance?
Heavy Rain and Flooding
Climate change is all about the changing pattern of weather, which is seeing an average increase in global temperatures, but is also seeing more and more extreme weather events crop up in the UK and around the world. These could be extreme temperatures and wildfires, heavy rainfall and flash flooding, or even storm damage.
Flooding is one thing that can seriously impact the cost of your home insurance. If you live on a flood plain, or vulnerable area such as near a river, then it’s likely that your premium would be higher than it would be if you weren’t in a susceptible location. However, thanks to climate change, flooding is becoming more common. And this isn’t just affecting the usual danger spots, this has started impacting areas where flooding is extremely rare.
Across the board this can mean insurance premiums increasing as flooding becomes more common in danger zones, whilst normally trouble-free locations are now at risk. Water can not only damage the building, but it can also destroy a home’s contents too, meaning both aspects of home insurance are affected.
Extreme Heat
Another aspect of climate change is the rise in global temperatures, which brings with it some extreme temperatures. This heat also tends to bring dry spells with it, which can lead to subsidence. Subsidence happens when clay-rich soil loses all of its moisture to trees and bushes, meaning the clay sinks and the foundations above are unbalanced.
This subsidence then affects the house itself, which needs major structural work to stop the house dropping. This is to ensure it’s safe to live in in some cases, and in others it’s required to stop the house falling down. Thanks to the dry weather last year, one major insurer has seen claims for subsidence triple.
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Storm Damage
As well as pouring rain and long, hot dry spells; storm damage is also a common claim to make when it comes to home insurance. With climate change, storms can not just become more frequent, but they can be more damaging too, with more destruction being left as a result of a stormy night. There are a range of things that can be damaged in a storm; tiles can be dislodged, windows can be smashed, and trees and debris can collide with the property.
And storm damage doesn’t just affect the home too, as a number of car insurance claims are as a result of damage from storms, such as falling branches and flying objects.
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A regular home insurance policy may cover many different factors and take into account the many different implications involved, such as house price, house size and whether you’re on a flood plain or not. However, they’re not truly able to go into the minute detail you would require in order to get the most accurate home insurance policy, nor can they predict the weather, so house premiums are going up across the board to cover the increase in weather-related home insurance claims.
Using a broker like [broker_name] means we can work with you to create a suitable home building and contents policy, covering everything you need to be protected from at the right level, whilst cutting any unnecessary extras out of your insurance coverage.
