President's blog

My tenure as President had virtually passed without any major incident such as a natural catastrophe. That is no longer true given the recent heavy rainfall across broad areas of the country which has led to extensive flooding.

Many people have been forced to leave their homes and extensive damage will have been caused to both domestic property and business premises. Insurance cover and the response of insurers to people’s plight, is a key element of our country’s resilience to such events. This particular incident which may well be as significant as the 1987 storms, if not more so, will test all those involved in the insurance supply chain.

Loss Adjusters have a good track record of responding to policyholders needs in times of crisis and I am certain that we will again rise to the challenge. It is early days for this incident but it is important to understand that extensive damage of this type will take time to repair; rushing the process can cause more long term problems than it solves. In the short term all Policyholders need the assurance of knowing how their insurance cover will help them through recovery from the current low point. As seems only right, priority will no doubt be given to those cases of greatest hardship/need.

In the periods between the incidents of this type, CILA members work with other industry groups to refine and improve our response to major incidents such as these. We thus have better surge plans than ever which makes us better placed to respond to the needs of the insuring public. Meanwhile I am off to Yorkshire to deal with a large commercial loss - the river didn't flood but the railway did!