Homes and businesses at risk of flooding

• It is a property or business owner's responsibility to protect their premises from flooding.

Plan how you'll respond to a flood. Use the following links to download a template:

• visit the GOV.UK website for information on personal flood plans
• visit the GOV.UK website for flood plan guidance for communities and groups
• visit the GOV.UK website for business flood plan.

Sandbags

Telford & Wrekin Council have a very limited supply of sandbags; we will provide up to 10 of these on a discretionary basis to help prevent internal property flooding where highway drainage is the principal source of flooding. Delivery could take up to 10 days. We are not able to provide sandbags as an emergency response and will not provide sandbags if you are flooding from surface water, a public sewers or from a river. Please note we are not able to provide sandbags to prevent garages and gardens from flooding. If you feel at risk or require more than 10 sandbags, contact your local Builders Merchant to purchase your own.

Do sandbags work?

Traditionally, sandbags have been used to block doorways, drains and other openings into properties as well as to weigh-down manhole covers, garden furniture and to block sink, toilet and bath drains to prevent water backing up.

• They can keep water out for short periods which can be improved by using them in conjunction with plastic sheeting.
• They can filter out some muddy sediments found in flood waters.
• They are cheap and easy to obtain.
• However, sandbags are relatively ineffective when compared to purpose-designed flood protection products

There are affordable options for flood insurance.

Flood Re

Flood Re is a joint government and insurance industry initiative to enable you to find affordable insurance for qualifying properties that are at risk of flooding or have been flooded.

Flood Re takes on the high flood risk elements of home insurance. Home insurers pay an annual tax which is collected and centrally managed. The high flood risk part of your policy is passed to Flood Re by your insurance company. If a valid claim is made on your insurance, Flood Re will reimburse the insurer from the centrally managed fund. More information can be found on the Flood Re website.

Unfortunately, Flood Re is currently only available for homes and not businesses.

Finding an insurer

A list of insurers signed up to Floor Re are available on the Flood Re website. 

If you are still struggling, The National Flood Forum can advise on how to get insurance and how to reduce your premium/excess.

The British Insurance Broker’s Association has details of brokers that specialise in properties that are difficult to insure.

The government has also put together a guidance document ‘Obtaining flood insurance in high risk areas’.

Insurance related request letter

Insurance companies may ask for an Insurance Related Request Letter if your property is at risk of flooding. The information will be used to determine whether they will insure you and how much it will cost.

The letter is free of charge for individuals and £60 for businesses, and will be sent within 20 working days. The letter is available by request directly from the Environment Agency.

The letter will explain:

• if your property is in a flood risk area
• how likely the area is to flood
• the protection given by local flood defences
• if there are any planned flood defences.

Flood risk report

If flood protection work has been carried out on your property, you or a surveyor can complete a Flood Risk Report to advise insurers how the work affects the flood risk.

• Flooding from the rivers Tern, Perry, Roden or Severn - The Environment Agency offers a free flood alert system called Floodline which you can register for on 0845 988 1188. Floodline provides flood warnings direct to you by phone, text or email. It also provides practical advice on preparing for a flood, and what to do if one happens.
• Flooding from the Coalbrook in Coalbrookdale - request to be added to the list by completing our online form - you will need to select Data Request/Coalbrookdale flood warning list/be added to warning list.
• Flooding from heavey rain and surface water - Keep an eye on the Met Office website and beware of any warnings.