Flood Relief

[NOG]

We have seen a lot on the news about the floods. Whole villages 7 foot under water (BBC News24).

It is now apparent that lots of the people affected have lost everything because they did not have contents insurance.

Have any of our friends on this forum been affected?

Is there anything we can do as a forum to help them or the victims?

Yes you should have insurance but if you are on a low income other bills may seem more urgent. And I doubt that they will get much help from the govenment.

If this had happend elsewhere in the world the govenment cheque book would be out.

[Digger-07]

I heard on the radio yesterday that there are grants available for those who have no way of replacing lost contents.

I also heard one person say that they had cancelled their insurance after the last flood because they thought it would not happen to them again.

I know insurance keeps going up but I don't see why people foolish enough to go without contents insurance should get help from anyone.

[sewer rat]

Dingwall is about 15 miles from us and was very badly flooded last autumn - people there are still waiting on emergency relief payments they were were promised and some I know cannot get their insurance renewed.
This is what happens when the councils decided that it would be more efficient to have one squad of men doing drainage work, as opposed to when I was a kid and there were council workers who had an alloted stretch or patch and they keep drains and more importantly, ditches clear. Now they are all overgrown and choked full of silt and accumulated debris, so water cannot get away and runs down the roads instead.

[NOG]

True you should have insurance. But previously someone posted on this forum that he was the only person in his street that was in employment.
If you have more going out than coming in you have to make decisions and some people probally didn't have a lot to start with.

If you were in a ground floor flat that is under 6 foot of water...you have nothing but what you stand up in.

[valmarg]

Most people have buildings and contents insurance. The essential in this case is to have flood damage insurance as well. As high above sea level as we are, we are covered against flood damage. It is highly unlikely that the recent very wet weather will come into our house. The reason we have flood damage cover is that a pipe could burst in the loft and cause dreadful damage.

NOG, you are very quick to take out and shoot the unemployed, but there are people out there who have got insurance, despite their reduced circumstamces, so why should they subsidise "the foolish virgins"!!

If people are daft enough to buy houses on flood plain land then they get what they deserve. A prime example is the old Shrewsbury Town football ground. It was regularly shown in winter on the local news, looking like a swimming pool, explaining why matches had been abandoned.

The football club has moved to another ground. What is happening to the old flood plagued ground - they are building houses on it!! If you are daft enough to buy a house on such a site, then you get what you deserve.

valmarg

[valmarg]

Oh dear, NOG, I think I may have been a bit harsh in my last email. Having been brought up to be self-reliant, it goes against the grain to expect handouts of tax payers' money.

One thing I have noticed. We, in the UK, are the first to set up disaster funds for anywhere on the globe. Pakistan earthquake, Tsunami, etc, etc. You can make donations at any branch of your bank, building society, online, etc,etc. Milions (if not billions) of pounds being donated.

Where is the disaster fund for the people affected by these floods? Have you seen an advert on TV telling you where you can donate?

Charity is supposed to begin at home. I would quite willingly donate to such a fund. We are not well off, but some people will have lost so much.

The property developers are greedy b'stards. They build the houses (as in the case of the Shrewsbury Town football pitch) sell them, and they couldn't give a toss what happens once they are sold.

Also, any of the people that have been flooded for the first time in x number of years, and had insurance. Just wait until they need to renew their policies!

valmarg

[Madasafish]

I'm sorry but anyone who buys a new house on a flood plain - especially one that has flooded in the past has not done their own research.

It's basic when buying a house near a river or on flat ground to check for past flooding... if buyers do not then I'm afraid it is their own fault.

It's really the fault of the developers but as they do not issue warranties on anything worth the paper it's written on, a buyer should check everything.. like buying a secondhand car... (with secondhand cars you have more redress than buying a house so all the more reason to check).

Harsh? Yes. But as there are no warranties it's caveat emptor...

[Rowan]

Quite a lot of the flooding seems to be in areas with no past history of it - and when you're struggling to afford a house at all (whether to buy or rent), you'll take what you can afford. I don't think many companies will insure against flooding if a property's at risk, so it's not entirely the fault of the non-insured. A quick-fix solution might be for any new development believed to be at risk from flooding to be forced to advertise the fact in big letters on all their sales publicity!
Further to Nog's original, generous-minded post - at the very least, if any forum-users have lost cherished plants, perhaps we could see our way clear to posting them some seeds, cuttings or whatever to help with replanting?

[ugly gourd]

Another problem is where new builds are they redirect the natural springs so redirecting the water so 10 years ago a site may never have flooded it will now and also all the extra concrete and tarmac is reducing the area for natural soak away so it is hard to discover if an area has flooded in the past

[SarzWix]

If you all get out your atlas...turn to the British Isles...look for where you live... If it's on a green bit, chances are you'll be flooding too within the next 50 years or so! If it's on a brown bit, maybe you won't. Looks like Scotland, Wales & the Pennines gonna get pretty crowded...

There really is no point in gettin stroppy about who should pay for flood damage and who shouldn't - if the insurance companies have to stump up, we all pay with increased premiums anyway; it has to come from somewhere.

So, totally agree that there should be some way to offer help, as we would do if this had happened in another country. And if any Grapes need help with plants, gardening stuff, or anything else at all, I'm more than willing to put myself forward

[NOG]

Valmarg....not at all. I have been luck that I have always been in work. Ok I have gone out when I was out of work and chased to find a job have have done some rotten jobs. And have never expected to be given handouts. When I left home I stood on my own two feet.

Yes you should plan for the worst.

BUT.....some of these people are OAPS on basic state pensions. Working familes on low incomes who's insurance my not pay out for everything thay have lost.

And my point exactly....we have some dirty irish bloke on the TV ranting for handouts for Afirca again,,,and you know 90% of it is going to be stolen by the Govenments of those countries. As we all know the 1980s famine in Eitheopia was manmade by the govenment of that country as part of the civil war.

Where is the fund for these people.

[Two_Sheds]

I know insurance keeps going up but I don't see why people foolish enough to go without contents insurance should get help from anyone.

Well I can't afford insurance. My disposable income after bills and rent is c.£23 a week. Perhaps if the well-off didn't invent insurance claims (oh dear, all my ski stuff got stolen at the airport, oops so did my top-of-the-range camcorder) the premiums would be cheaper...?
All my stuff is from charity shops and skips, so if I lose it all I'll go down Oxfam again. Insurance is legalised robbery anyway ... the only thing I have of value is my bike, and no insurance company will cover it, because bikes are too nickable (one stolen every 5mins in UK)

[Peter]

The flood plain building is actually the fault of the planning authorities, certainly all more recent builds in England.

The Environment Agency will recommend refusal of permission for building projects on flood plains and state what they estimeta the flood risk to be. The Planning Authority, then grants permission.

[yoanbob]

when we were looking for a house the only propertys we could afford in the area we grew up were on the flood plain, so we bought a house an hour away in a deprived area where we are more at risk from being burguled than floods, but at least we CAN insure against burgalry.
anyone needs help with cuttings etc count us in.

[valmarg]

NOG I too am an OAP, with a State Pension of £3.28 per week, paid annually in arears just before Christmas without interest!! I am part of the Chancellor's public sector borrowing, totally against my wishes.

If anyone does need cuttings, free seeds, etc, only too happy to help with any requests for help.

valmarg