Home insurance payouts reached £573 million last year, while bad weather claims reached a record high
- Storms caused a major spike in insurance payments for property damage in 2023
- Insurers say more people are not making claims, but individual payouts are rising
Home insurers paid out a record £573 million in bad weather claims last year, new figures show.
The bumper payout was 36 percent higher than the £421 million paid in 2022, according to industry body Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The ABI said the rise in bad weather claims in 2023 was fueled by a series of storms, including Babet, Ciaran and Debi, which struck last autumn.
Claims for storm damage to homes amounted to £133 million last year, while storm-related flooding accounted for a further £286 million.
Homeowners also received £153 million in payouts for burst pipes, most of which occurred in early 2023 due to the cold start to the year.
Fully covered: Many homeowners called on their insurance last year for damage caused by bad weather
Home insurance can be patchy when it comes to paying for flood damage to your home and belongings.
This insurance may not pay out for, for example, flood damage to sheds, fences and outbuildings, or for the full value of damaged goods in your home.
You may also not be reimbursed for the costs of other accommodation if your house is so badly flooded that you have to move.
If you live in an area prone to flooding, or if your property has flooded before, you may not be able to get flood coverage at all.
The cost of insuring a flooded house rose by £99 in just one year, This is Money reported last month.
Bad weather also damaged a large number of businesses, which filed claims for payouts worth £443 million.
In total, insurers paid out £4.86 billion to homeowners and businesses in 2023.
More than half of this amount – £2.55 billion – was for home insurance claims.
This is an increase of almost 10 percent on 2022 totals (£2.33 billion) and is caused by weather-related damage, the ABI said.
While the total number of claims remained fairly flat, the average claim paid to businesses and homeowners rose to £6,235, an increase of 11 percent compared to 2022.
ABI policy advisor Louise Clark said: ‘Extreme weather events may not feel as rare as they used to, as we grapple with a changing climate. Insurers continue to stand by for affected homeowners, with payouts reaching record levels after a particularly difficult autumn and winter with seemingly numerous storms, leading to significant flooding from Agnes onwards.
‘While insurance will continue to protect homeowners and businesses, we cannot afford to lose the momentum of our water protection programme, and we continue to press the Government for further investment in water protection and maintenance, and call for planning changes. system to discourage building where flooding is more likely.”