UK insurers must take flooding risks seriously following Storm Christoph, InsurTech Previsico warns.
Storm Christoph caused massive flooding across the nation in January, with 70% of the flooding being due to surface water and ordinary watercourses. Surface water flooding is a significant and increasing risk due to urbanisation and climate change across the UK, where river defences largely held.
Previsisco provides a live flood forecasting solution for insurers.
Surface water flooding affects three million people in the UK, Previsico stated, adding that thanks to its over 150 flood alerts and a further 30 flood warnings, communities were able to protect 27,500 properties from flooding.
“With Storm Christoph bringing such heavy rainfall in such a short timeframe it was no surprise that there were so many instances of flooding,†said Avi Baruch, COO at Previsico.
“What was not widely reported, however, was the sheer scale of the surface water flooding, with many cars becoming stranded, drains backing up, and properties being affected across the UK.
“Importantly, during the storm, Previsico’s insurance partners and their corporate customers had access to our world-leading visualisation platform, where they could, uniquely, view the surface water forecasts before the event unfolded, as did the UK Cabinet Office and the Emergency Services.â€
Previsico secured a £700,000 loan from Innovate UK in 2020 to fund its US launch.
Copyright © 2021 FinTech Global
