"Government should compensate flood victims and purchase houses"

N1AK

prowla wrote: »

However, I can see the other side too; the government certainly did make some of the floods happen; yes, the water fell out of the sky, but the government(s) made policy decisions on river maintenance & routing, on defence and response measures, on drainage, and so-on, and these did make differences as to who got flooded.

When some house gets burgled then although then by the same logic the government did make it happened. They made policy decisions on education, policing, rehabilitation and prisons. Can I stop paying for home insurance and should the government bail me out if I ever get burgled instead?

Same question for car insurance where they are responsible for quality of drivers on road, enforcement of safe driving?

Also, could someone struggling to find a job in an area with low employment get the equivalent of salary insurance paid by government because their policies influence the level of employment in different areas etc?

The government is not responsible for stopping people being flooded, though it should be managing the risk. Unless the government has made decisions that increase the risk of your property flooding then they shouldn't be liable for it happening.

Besides, I'm not sure where all the concern about prices comes from. This is supposed to be a once in a century event and there's plenty of people who don't believe in climate change who should be perfectly happy to buy somewhere that will only flood once every 3-5 generations

vivatifosi

Perelandra wrote: »

When should the government step in and provide the support, though. Should it be provided preemptively (which would imply an ongoing cost whenever the risk rose above a pre-defined level) or only after the crisis has started (by which time it will be too late to have a meaningful impact- which is what we're seeing in Egham).

You're in a position where you can see better what is needed than me. My thought is that the role of the government is...

1. In advance of floods, to provide people with a known risk of flooding with the best possible info in terms of building flood defences into their homes... the sort of walls that are being seen in Worcester, raised electrics, one way valves, etc. This is all good, practical stuff and some is available from the EA website, but I also think they should up their funding to the BRE, in exchange for their publishing results for anyone to read (non subscription) and acting as UK centre of excellence on the subject.

2. Providing practical advice to people who don't have flood defences on what they can do, e.g. covering air bricks, how to use sandbags most effectively etc. As some people don't have net access, particularly the elderly, they could put this in the front of the local phone directory, as they do hurricane advice in the USA.

3. When a flood hits, providing support on the ground... checking residents are ok and helping evacuate where necessary, keeping areas safe and free of looters and so forth. This could be a job with a high volunteer element rather, but still needs a degree of central control and command, possibly fire brigade, maybe army. Bringing in other services, such as drinking water bowsers, as appropriate. Helping keep roads and paths open and clear as possible.

I'm not sure what they should do after the event. I'm in favour of underwriting the flood insurance, but possibly contingent on people meeting some reasonable costs to do what they can to minimise future flood risk.

ETA... planning advice should also be offered on best practice for building on flood plains, this will change the style of housing a bit but be much more resilient, more houses on plinths like yours, more with storage and garages underneath, more on stilts.

N1AK

Perelandra wrote: »

Hells bells, this I hadn't thought of. I'm currently on a lifetime tracker, so at least I won't have the hassle of trying to remortgage. Presumably my existing lender couldn't pull the rug out from under my feet, and say that they no longer want to lend to me?

They won't, even if theoretically the terms might allow it (which I also doubt) they would never use them in this situation. The talk of house prices falling is also massively overstating the risk, in my opinion, chances are even if your house is flooded it will have a very limited impact on either your insurance or the saleability of your property so don't worry about that.

Good luck and I hope it goes well for you.

Perelandra

vivatifosi wrote: »

You're in a position where you can see better what is needed than me. My thought is that the role of the government is...

ETA... planning advice should also be offered on best practice for building on flood plains, this will change the style of housing a bit but be much more resilient, more houses on plinths like yours, more with storage and garages underneath, more on stilts.

Ah okay- agree with that type of support (education and reducing the impact of the flood). A lot of the people around me are accusing the local authorities of not doing enough to prevent the flooding- i.e. saying that sandbags should have been distributed en masse weeks ago. Whilst I would've liked that, I don't think it's practical/cost-effective.

I consider myself better educated now, and will be making better preparations in case this were to happen again!

Perelandra

N1AK wrote: »

They won't, even if theoretically the terms might allow it (which I also doubt) they would never use them in this situation. The talk of house prices falling is also massively overstating the risk, in my opinion, chances are even if your house is flooded it will have a very limited impact on either your insurance or the saleability of your property so don't worry about that.

Good luck and I hope it goes well for you.

Thanks, hope you're right!

I'd love to be able to make the statement to prospective buyers:

"Sure, in the great flood of 2014 the garden was flooded but the house itself stayed dry- that's why it's built so high up."

moneyistooshorttomention

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Glad this has started some good debate

Theres another discussion going on too. Fisherman can't fish. People can't get to hotels and B&B's due to transport problems etc etc etc. Business can't get custom because people can't get to the business itself.

One business is now stating their insurance cover for this hasn't covered even a tenth of their loss.

.

Not the type of language I would normally use, but "It's called Life...deal with it".

I do understand and sympathise with that sort of loss as well...but sometimes Life just happens and the attendant Sh*t. Sometimes it really IS "just one of those things" and not someone's "fault".

geelamch

If you have a property in a high burglary count area you take precautions in the form of alarm ,gates wall and locks. The same applies if you have a property in a flood plain area, you are expected to take precautions.
I pay tax to assist education, emergency services , health etc. I don't pay tax to compensate house buyers choice if they get it wrong.if my area becomes crime ridden then I cannot expect compensation, I would simply react and alter my plans and be expected to have taken precautions to negate the threat.

Thrugelmir

mayonnaise wrote: »

These are well established towns, Old Windsor, Datchet, Wraysbury, Egham, Staines, Shepperton...etc..

They've flooded before and will again in the future. The River Thames is as old as the hills. The geography makes it very apparent why these areas flood.

Much in the same way in Saxon times people lived on the Somerset Levels in summer. Then moved to the higher ground in Street and Glastonbury in the autumn \winter months. There's always a risk even if it's only once every hundred years. .

moneyinmypocket

I am happy for my taxes to be used to buy hard working homeowners homes.

vivatifosi

Thrugelmir wrote: »

They've flooded before and will again in the future. The River Thames is as old as the hills. The geography makes it very apparent why these areas flood. . .

Strictly speaking, the River Thames is not as old as the hills. It flowed through Hertfordshire in the ice age:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/walk_through_time/02.shtml