As part of our regular review process we have carried out a number of changes to the FloodFlash policy documents. These changes take effect from the 1st of June 2021 and apply to all policies bound on or after that date. This blog contains a detailed summary of the changes. If you’d like to know more, contact enquiries@floodflash.co or call 0333 016 5466.

Summary of the changes

The changes we have made are summarised in the following bullet points. For more detail, scroll down to the detailed changes section of this article.

• The waiting period now begins from the moment the policy is bound to make it easier to align with renewal dates. No claims will be paid during the first 14 days (the waiting period) of a new policy
• Added clarity on cancellation and late payment conditions
• Making the document easier to read and understand for clients
• Removal of the policy summary as the policy wording is now only 13 pages long
• Additional information in the policy schedule to help clients

Why we are making these changes

At FloodFlash we pride ourselves on how simple our insurance is. We strive to make sure that our rapid-payout parametric insurance is clear to all our clients so that they can make the best decisions for their ongoing flood resilience.

These policy document changes represent a movement towards greater simplicity and transparency for all FloodFlash clients and their partner brokers. The reason for these changes fall into one (or more) of the following categories:

• Lessons we have learned after selling FloodFlash and paying claims over the last 2 years
• Feedback from our brokers and a recent audit
• Incorporating up-to-date industry best practices

Why we are making these changes now

We are proud to announce that we have signed a new partnership with Munich Re who now provide our insurance capacity. We’d like to thank Everest Re for all their support over the last 3 years and express our excitement about the new partnership with Munich Re. This represents a great opportunity for us to take the product forward with an underwriting team that are committed to client-first innovation.

As part of the change we have made the necessary updates to the wording to reflect the updated capacity. As a result, this is a great time to include other, more functional changes to the policy documents.

This has no impact on our FCA-regulated status and we are still coverholders at Lloyd’s of London.

The changes in detail

We have made changes across almost all of the key policy documents. See a detailed list of the changes for each document below.

Policy document

1. Amendments to waiting period, cancellation and late payment conditions

• The waiting period is now defined in the policy document as: “the first 14 days of the insured period of a new policy. During this time no liability under this policy for a measured flood event or otherwise can arise.” Previously we required brokers/clients to bind policies 14 days prior to inception. We have made this change for a number of reasons:
  • bring the policy wording in line with standard market practices
  • answering feedback to give brokers and clients the flexibility to align policy start dates with other renewal dates
  • audit recommendation
• New policies can be cancelled in the first 14 days with return of premium.
• If a claim occurs before the premium is paid, payout is reduced in line with premium, sensor fee and taxes owed.
• Failure to pay premiums by the premium due date results in cancelation.

2. Coherence with existing practices and documents

• For completeness, we have now included that:
  • We now charge a fee of £75+VAT in the event that a sensor has been incorrectly placed. Details on placement are provided in clause 3 of the policy document in the policy schedule and in brochures provided to clients and brokers during the quoting period.
  • In the event the policy is on the wrong building (ie. the property footprint identified by the client at quote stage is not the property they want to attach the sensor to) and has to be changed, we will cancel the policy and issue a new one given the change in risk details. We reserve the right to charge a fee.
• Instead of showing the privacy policy, we now provide a web link.
• We’ve moved the several liability section to the schedule and reworded it in line with the LMA consumer wordings guidance.

3. Making the document easy to read for the end-consumer

• We’ve employed clear communication principals, removed duplication and inserted call-out boxes for key information the client should retain.

Policy summary

• We have removed the 10-page policy summary document which wasn’t required given our new policy document is 13-pages long. This will help clients who have access to all the same information, but who now have to deal with fewer documents. We did this because:
  • summary documents are more suited to multi-peril commoditised products and their comparison,
  • the necessary details of the FloodFlash product are covered with brevity in the policy wording.

Statement of fact

• We now detail the flood history (specifically the reported years for previous floods). This brings it in line with the proposal form (quote request form) where we ask for the years of previous flood events.

Policy schedule

• We now include the building footprint in the schedule in line with changes to the proposal form and statement of fact.
• We have included information on sensor and installation in the year 1 schedule only. This is to underline the importance of the property being correct and provide tips on correct sensor installation.
• We have included information about the claims process and who the client has selected as their claims contact.

Quote document

No changes at this time.

Any questions? Get in touch

We’re proud to have made FloodFlash policies simpler and more transparent. If you have any feedback on the changes, or want to discuss any of them in detail, please email enquiries@floodflash.co.