ABI gears up for winter storm season

Six named storms swept through the UK during the 2024-25 season, including Storm Éowyn, the fiercest windstorm in more than 10 years. It was a stark reminder of how quickly conditions can intensify. Then came Floris in August, challenging the notion that bad weather belongs to autumn and winter.

Storms aren’t just meteorological markers – they can have deep impacts on society as well. They interrupt well-made plans, harm the economy and expose vulnerabilities in our infrastructure. They also reveal the true importance of the support our sector offers.

Fixing loose roof tiles, checking for leaks, and trimming overhanging branches can significantly reduce the risk of damage.

With climate change making such events more severe and frequent, we have long said that adaptation must become a much greater part of the solution. That means not building on land that is at risk of flooding, hardwiring resilience into planning and building regulations, implementing sustainable drainage plans, and consistently matching flood defence investment to the risk on the ground.

While we continue as an industry to collectively bang the drum for greater protection and resilience measures at a systemic level, meaningful reform often lags behind rising risks. In the meantime, our most immediate and effective path forward is to continue to empower customers to become more resilient themselves.

Our sector is already incentivising this, including through initiatives like Flood Re’s Build Back Better scheme, which enables eligible homeowners to access up to £10,000 in additional funding to install flood resilience measures – 77% of the UK’s residential property insurance market now supports the scheme, helping households not just recover but become more resilient to future events. This is a no brainer for our sector and is bolstered by the support we are providing to the Environment Agency’s independent review into property flood resilience.

These efforts reflect a broader shift from simply restoring what was lost to rebuilding smarter and stronger in the face of escalating climate risks. But true resilience goes beyond pure bricks and mortar.

A recent ABI survey revealed that 25% of UK adults don’t know if their home is at risk of flooding or storm damage – and of those, only 27% would know how to find out. One in 10 have already experienced flood or storm damage of some form in their current home, and nearly half of them (45%) wish they’d taken more steps to mitigate it in advance.

Confidence in insurance doesn’t just come from having a policy – it comes from understanding it too. No one benefits when coverage is misunderstood at the point of claim.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent analysis of a sample of home insurance storm damage claims revealed that only 32% resulted in a settlement payment, with nearly a half of claims rejected. While the FCA make clear that most declined claims had valid reasons under the policy terms for not being successful, the regulator’s findings suggest there is need for us as an industry to help improve customers’ understanding of what their policy covers.

Helping customers to recognise how routine property maintenance, such as clearing gutters and replacing missing roof tiles helps to keep their cover valid is an important part of that education. These aren’t just routine chores; they’re frontline defences. 

Fixing loose roof tiles, checking for leaks, and trimming overhanging branches can significantly reduce the risk of damage. And for homes in certain flood-risk areas, installing property-level resilience measures – such as raised sockets, tiled flooring, flood doors, and permeable paving – can make recovery quicker, safer, and less costly.

As the trade body for the industry, we are a driving force for change, advocating for adaptation and resilience to be embedded in planning policy, building regulations, and infrastructure investment. We also play a vital role in spotlighting the great work happening across the market to build resilience: sharing what’s working well, celebrating innovation, and amplifying success. 

Equally important is our commitment to championing even better practices that not only strengthen trust in our sector but also raise the bar for how we prepare our customers in an era of growing climate risk.

That commitment extends to helping customers better understand their home insurance cover. With further work planned for the autumn, we’ll be building on this momentum – working with our members to support customers with practical guidance so that they feel more confident and prepared, whatever the weather brings.

To make that support truly meaningful, firms strive to ensure their claims processes are clear, consistent, and built around the customer. That means having strong governance in place, using quality data to monitor performance, and identifying any issues or trends – especially where elements are outsourced. 

It also means being there for customers throughout the lifecycle of a policy and making sure that when the time comes to make a claim, the experience is as smooth as possible. This is not just good practice. It’s central to meeting the Consumer Duty.   

Together, we can continue to shape an industry known not just for responding promptly in times of crisis, but for helping people to better understand their policies and how to act before bad weather arrives. 

Let’s make the upcoming storm season another step forward in clarity and customer confidence, because resilience is more than simply enduring the challenges ahead. 

It is demonstrated in our commitment to restore, adapt, and move forward, no matter how the weather turns.