President's blog

The floods in Yorkshire and other parts of the country are attracting considerable press coverage. A number of our members have appeared on TV and radio, and I have been impressed by them, particularly when the odd curved ball has been sent their way.

The response from our profession has been tremendous. With very few exceptions (e.g. when contact details provided are not up to date) all 27,500 domestic policyholders had been contacted by Friday of last week. Over the course of this last weekend first visits will have been completed, again with a few exceptions. This of itself is no mean achievement given that this incident is at least 10 times the size of the Carlisle floods.

CILA is not a trade body (it is an Institute of individual members), but there are clear advantages in a close liaison with the ABI. Thus we have met with, and will continue to meet weekly with, their Property Committee to feed back and exchange ideas on how best to address specific challenges that the recent flooding presents.

Flood claims are, by their very nature, stressful for all concerned. Policyholders displaced from their homes are bound to be devastated by the news that they will not be able to return for 6 - 12 months in most cases. It is the role of the Loss Adjuster to manage expectations in these circumstances, but at the same time our members and contractors will be under strain as well, given that they will be working long hours, 7 days per week, for some time to come. A mutual appreciation of the challenge will go a long way to restoring normality as soon as possible.