The Flood Hub

• Study establishes baseline template for collection of and documentation of household resilience and risk information essential to the introduction of Flood Performance Certificates
• FPCs will drive greater take up of property flood resilience measures and Build Back Better
• Project looks at what data matters to a home’s resilience

Plans for the introduction of Flood Performance Certificates (FPC) moved a step closer this week following publication of new research into a standardised data template for the systematic collection and documentation of household resilience and risk information. FPCs – similar in concept to Energy Performance Certificates – will provide householders with an assessment of their property’s resilience to flooding. This can accelerate household investment in adaptation, and enable those improvements to be recognised, which could have benefits for both property values and insurance premiums in the future.

The research, commissioned by Flood Re, and conducted by resilience and flood risk specialist RAB Consultants in collaboration with claims service provider Sedgwick, establishes a standardised dataset and assessment framework for FPCs, combining property characteristics, flood hazard, and existing PFR measures. A consistent data collection template is a key step in creating a robust measurement of property-level flood performance and will enable the next essential stage to go ahead: piloting of the data framework. The tiered assessment approach will make it possible for householders to input basic information, for a desktop assessment to be done for more complex cases or risks, and a detailed/enhanced approach for the most complex cases or recent floods.

The FPC will be piloted by the end of 2026, with a view to integrating with a discounted premium structure by 2028, and more widespread deployment in the years following. This would make FPCs an accepted part of the market well ahead of Flood Re’s scheduled exit from the insurance market in 2039 when flood insurance will return to risk-based pricing.

Flood Re believes FPCs are critical to driving the uptake of PFR as insurance returns to risk-based pricing from 2039. They will provide clear, property-level evidence of risk and resilience, allowing insurers to differentiate between properties and recognise and credit the value of any PFR installed. This will help create stronger incentives for resilience investment and support a more risk-reflective, resilience-led market, enabling the benefit of adaptations to be reflected in both house prices and insurance premiums in the future.

Jonathan Kassian, Head of Flood Resilience, Flood Re commented:

• “Flood Re is committed to the introduction of Flood Performance Certificates, and the publication of these new guidelines marks a fundamental step towards that goal. FPCs have huge potential to help householders understand how to protect themselves from flooding, improving the resilience of the country’s housing stock and helping ensure flood insurance will remain accessible and available for households in the long-term. The measurement of a property’s resilience to flooding will give householders greater awareness of their home’s resilience and risk, add transparency to the market, and incentivise action. With the release of this data collection framework, we are nearing the completion of the standardisation phase of our FPC roadmap, and will start the pilot phase by the end of this year. ”

Russell Burton, Managing Director, RAB Consultants commented:

• “Our research has shown that FPCs have the potential to transform how we recognise and reward flood resilience at property level. By setting out a consistent way to capture property-level flood risk and resilience information, we can help move the conversation from simply understanding flood risk to actively recognising and rewarding the steps people take to reduce it. That has the potential to support greater uptake of property flood resilience measures, strengthen confidence in Build Back Better, and help create a more resilient housing market as flood insurance moves towards risk-based pricing.”

For more information and for a link to the original article, please click here.