The Floods Again

[Bazile]

Whils't I do not want to sound uncaring , cos I do sympathize - it must be devestating to have your possesions ruined .

However , listening to some people who have been affected , by the recent floods and previous events - they seem to think and expect that the Government , and thus general taxation , should make good their losses .

Why didn't they have insurance , like most other people ? I have to fork out money in order to cover my possesions -why didn't / dont they ?

[ludwig]

There's a chance that if they've been flooded before, then they couldn't actually get insurance.

[webbo3]

i completely agree, some of the houses shown on tv had expensive houses with all the latest appliances and very nice and posh looking but they said ive no insurance.......what?

although i think there should be some kind of fund to help people get the important things, clothes for themselves and their children, money for food , but thats about it.

Dave.

[Bazile]

Ludwig - I do realize that insurance can be very difficult and expensive to obtain in some areas ( and if you are not earning much , the cost is almost prohibitive - therefore the temptation is to go without ) hence why i said 'some' people

However as webbo3 says , some householders just dont see why they should pay for insurance cover , and deliberately go without .

[shaneystar2]

We fork out good money to cover our possessions but when we were flooded last year the insurance company refused to pay up . They led us a merry dance until we slapped a complaint on them via the ombudsman.We were not flooded as badly as some of these poor people and although this happened last August some people who were badly affected in our area are still not back in their homes due to the incompetence of insurance companies and we have only recently had our repairs done .
There has been so much flood damage the past year people who live in flood areas find it hard to get insurance and if they do the premiums are sky high so perhaps they think sod it and hope for the best. Not a wise thing to do in hindsight but lots of people have the attitude that it will never happen to them .
Insurance companies will pay out but they are really being hit in the pocket now and will try any loophole to get out of paying claims as we found to our dismay ...beware of the one with the little red telephone . We have now taken our business elsewhere.But of course we are paying a higher premium as we have had a previous claim for "flood damage". If (God forbid) it happened again I doubt anyone would insure us and if they did it would be an exorbitant premium.

[Marvelman]

Heaven forbid that we should help our own people in a small disaster, if it was in another country we would not be asking why people did not have insurance, we would be sending bucket loads of money, plane loads of blankets clothes, and food, over the years this country alone has given hundreds of millions of pounds to all sorts of countries, and here you are complaining because the govenment are going to give a bit of money to our own people who through no fault of their own have been the victims of horrendous floods, i suppose you would have a different opinion if your house had been completely ruined by flooding.

[Bazile]

As I said marvelman , SOME people , even though they can afford it and would have no difficulty getting cover , deliberately dont bother to get their possessions covered .

Why should we have sympathy in those cases ?

[webbo3]

Changing the subject slightly.

act of god , surely if the insurance companies quote this they have to prove that god exists, or is it called an act of nature now?.

hope this makes sense.


Dave.

[Marvelman]

Bazile, i have been a victim of flooding, i was fully insured, but belive me it is not that simple, insurance companies are not at their best when large claims are submitted, it was one of the worst experiences of my life, and still left me approx two thousand pounds out of pocket, but how do you know that there are people who can afford insurance but dont take it out , have you done a survey , what is your feelings about keeping thousands of immigrants in houses, free health care,and benifits,who have not paid a penny in the country, i suppose you think that is ok. i just hope that if you are ever a victim of some small disaster, you find that people are a bit more sympathetic to you than you are to the poor people of Sheffield.

[shaneystar2]

Well said marvelman ..this last year has been a complete nightmare for us despite having insurance and like you we are out of pocket . Although they begrudgingly coughed up when when we complained but not the full amount .They pared it down to the minimum and to get a proper job done we had to cover the rest.It's no wonder people have no faith in insurance companies sometimes.They are quick to take your premiums but not so quick when you have a genuine claim.
There but for the grace etc ... Bazile ...insured or not .

[Bazile]

I have every sympathy for anyone who is insured and have had problems with making a claim - for whatever the circumstances of the loss , not just flooding - or cannot afford or obtain insurance , or indeed will be stung for exhorbitant premiums in the future

However one guy shown on the television was lamenting the fact that his entertainment equipment was destroyed - yet he admitted that insurance cover was not something he had bothered to take out .

Yes , I have known people who simply have not bothered to take out cover , even though the availability or affordability was not an issue

[Bazile]

Oh , and just to clarify further , i certainly dont object to essential emmergency assistance .

However why should general taxation funds be used to redecorate , replace your lcd tv etc , if you chose not to take out cover , simply because you dont want to spend your money for that purpose ?

[Marvelman]

Bazile, you are a very sad person, because one man has not taken out insurance for his hi fi equipment, and you know of some people where you live have not taken out insurance on somethings you dont specify, you object to aid from the govenment for people in this country who have been made homeless through no fault of their own . you are a disgrace.i hope you get your comeuppance. goodbye.

[Bazile]

You are entitled to your opinion
You clearly choose to ignore the specific point I am taking issue with , despite my clarifications

Where have i said anything about denying any help to people who find themselves homeless?

Unlike your sentiments , i wish you well

[vehelpfulguy]

When rivers flood it is because they have more water than they can cope with (obviously) and in the past (before man built walls all along river banks) many rivers were much wider than they are now and had the room to "flood".

But many of these recent floods are caused by governments and councils building houses in flood plains, or building more walls along rivers, giving water nowhere to go but into housing estates.

I am not saying unisured people should get brand new plasma TVs, but the government do have a duty to spend a lot of money tidying up areas and giving financial support, and spending even more money improving flood defences.

[Le Chat]

My husband and I were asking this exact same question this morning and both Brazile and Marvelman have made some excellent points. However, Marvelman chose to ignore the specific point that Brazile was making, perhaps because the subject matter has actually affected his life and he is still raw from this experience.
My nextdoor neighbour has no insurance (living in a �350k house, Mercedes car and good job) because he has a savage dog and thinks that this will scare off any intruder. He obviously has not considered that theft is not the only reason why an insurance claim would be made. I'm sure that he is not alone in his thinking. If we were flooded and he was compensated, then yes, I would be cheesed off! However, I would imagine that any govt help is really going to be minimal.