Flood Resilience, Response and Recovery

A new Lloyd's report in co-operation with RUSI examines how insurers and key stakeholders can work together to improve flood resilience, response and recovery.

Flooding occupies a prominent position on the UK's National Risk Register and, as such, the impact it has on the UK is of interest to the resilience, climate security and emergency management research programmes undertaken by Royal United Services Institute.

Jennifer Cole, Research Fellow in Emergency Management at RUSI (and RUSI's representative to the Inter-Institutional Flooding Group [1] led by the Institution of Civil Engineers), has recently worked with insurance company Lloyds's to explore the impact of flooding on the insurance industry and to provide guidance to insurers on flood risk management.

This work has resulted in the report Flood Resilience, Response and Recovery produced by Lloyd's in co-operation with RUSI, following a workshop in May.

Flooding has a major impact on insurance and the companies in the insurance industry have a unique role to play in flood preparedness, management and response. By working together with key stakeholder partners - including policyholders from local and national government, the emergency services, engineers and the construction industry, as well as with volunteer agencies and charities that support both victims and responders - insurers can help to raise awareness of flood risk. They can help to promote the uptake of flood resistant and resilient products and behaviours, ensure that the recovery from a flood runs as smoothly as possible, and support affected communities through the long and often painful recovery process.

The report examines how insurers and key stakeholders can work together to improve flood resilience, response and recovery.

RUSI's work with the Inter Institutional Flooding Group has also resulted in the recent publication of the Institution of Civil Engineers report Flood Risk Management: a local issue of national importance, which can be downloaded from http://www.ice.org.uk/getmedia/2d716f09-ba81-46ed-a24d-f524484e190f/flooding_c03_v12_noembargo_web.aspx

Note:

The Inter-Institutional Flooding Group

The Royal United Services Institute is a member of the Inter-Institutional Flooding Group which comprises the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, the Landscape Institute, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Royal Institution of British Architects and The Royal Town Planning Institute. The IIFG seeks to develop a consensus about the management of water.