15/7/09
FLOODING: More Oxford homes now at risk says Environment Agency (From The Oxford Times)
6:30am Wednesday 15th July 2009
HUNDREDS of homeowners in Oxford face the prospect of paying higher insurance premiums after their homes appeared on a map charting the city’s flood-prone areas.
A total of 1,790 homes, previously not identified as being at risk of flooding, were last night revealed to be at risk after they appeared on an Environment Agency document for the first time.
More than 600 of the new homes at risk in are in Jericho – an area that hasn’t flooded for decades.
The Environment Agency said it used information about rainfall levels, the rate at which the rivers Thames and Cherwell flowed and the height they reached from floods in 2007, 2003 and 2000, to identify Jericho’s risk.
The data was then fed into a computer model, with the result being the latest version of the city’s flood map.
And in a hammer blow to householders living there, the EA said insurance companies used its flood map to help calculate premiums – and warned homeowners “may see a change in the cost” in future.
Tonight residents will quiz staff on precisely why their homes were deemed to be at a risk of flooding calculated at a one per cent chance in any year – or one-in-100-years.
Residents have received leaflets warning them the cost of their insurance cover could change as a result of their homes being included on the map.
Last night Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers, said: “If the flood risk increases, that increase may have to be reflected in insurance premiums.
“Premiums will not go up automatically. Insurance companies use a selection of data available to assess the flood risk and are aware of the Environment Agency’s flood map.”
Richard Dutton, 56, a music teacher from Great Clarendon Street, Jericho, and wife Carolyn, 60, a retired teacher, were among more than 600 Jericho homeowners whose homes are now on the flood map.
Mrs Dutton said: “This area did not come close to flooding in 2007 – we have lived here since 1997 and it has not flooded. I have just upgraded our buildings insurance.
“Now I will have to look at the policy again in case the premiums are going to go up.”
The couple pay £720 a year for building and contents insurance for their £750,000 home.
Mr Dutton added: “I’m concerned about what effect this might have on property values – a potential buyer might ask for money off the asking price.”
He said a pumping station installed close to their home, which is near the Jericho boatyard site, had reduced the risk of flooding.
George Taylor, a spokesman for the Jericho Community Association, who also lives in Great Clarendon Street, said homes between the Oxford Canal and Hart Street were now included on the flood map.
He added: “People are very concerned their insurance premiums will go up, that house prices will be adversely affected and about what would happen if their homes are flooded.”
Dr Peter Rawcliffe, a spokesman for the Oxford Flood Alliance, said the leaflets were confusing.
He said: “The leaflet mentions a one per cent chance of flooding, or a one-in-100 year flood risk, but it should say one in 100 – or more.
“My home in South Hinksey is in a one-in-100 year flood risk area on the map and I have been flooded three times in eight years.
“The map is a very crude guide and I’m not sure how much it takes into account flood relief measures such as pumps.”
Barry Russell, Environment Agency flood risk manager for the Thames region, said 5,000 homes across Oxford were affected by the changes to the map, which can be viewed online.
He said: “Some properties are shown to have an increased risk of flooding, but some properties are shown to have a decreased risk and have been removed from the flood map.
“In Jericho, no homes have been removed from the flood map.
“Jericho is the area where the majority of people have been added to the map.”