My images were taken early in the day. By the time we had dragged all of the wheelie bins full of water to be emptied, over and over again, and then moved the furniture upstairs, I could not find the camera or the strength to take any more photographs.

In June 2007 one day's excessive rainfall played havoc around the UK. In Sheffield more than one person died and the waters swamped many places. In my City one young man died after he tried to unblock a neighbourhood gully. He became caught in the gully and despite the attempts of firemen and police officers he tragically lost his life. For the people and officers who were with him to the end it was a very traumatic experience. For the young man's family it was devastating.

( I recently visited a local theatre to watch a performance of "Every time it rains"which is dedicated to this man's memory and was very moving)

THE FLOODING

The flooding occurred as the ground was just so waterlogged after a very wet start to the great British Summer. Whatever was the overall cause, be it Global Warming, lack of maintenance for local drains or simply an act of God, no-one can really say. One thing for sure though was that it was a culmination of many things.

OUR EXPERIENCES

Hubby was not at work that day and I was not due to work until the early evening. I arose at around 8am and had some breakfast. Opening the blinds I could see the weather was dreadful. "Bucketing it down again", I thought. No change there than.

Mooching around the next time I looked out was to let my dogs onto the back garden. It was only about 9.30 but the rain troubled me somehow. I decided to keep an eye on things. Hubby got up and lolled about, and both of us kept looking outside. By 10.30 the water was rising fast at the back of our house.

We rang for help but of course there was none as everywhere was the same. We had just thought that it was our garden drain. I will not dwell on that day but we spent all of the daylight hours bailing out water in a vain attempt to stop it entering our home. We carried as much of the furniture as we could from the downstairs. The day was so tough that I ended up ill with back trouble. Finally at around 10 at night we turned of the electricity supply, as advised, and headed upstairs, dogs and all, and waited.

There was no work for me that day and many others as it was just impossible to get there. Some parts of the city had houses with 4 foot of water in them and the Road where we live resembled a river. However the rain stopped that night and we all breathed a sigh of relieve.

No water breached our paltry attempts at defense and although water had got under our house we could see it pouring out through a small hole at the back.

WHY THE INSURANCE CLAIM?

Many people fared much worse but I can only speak from experience. Talking to a friend a couple of days later, who had been properly flooded, she advised that we get our house checked out and make an insurance claim. What she said made sense. The flood waters had contained raw sewage and for peace of mind we needed to know are not be able to claim.

So a couple of days after the floods, in June 2007 we contacted our insurer's.

We made the claim and then waited for the insurer's to get in touch. I think initially a loss adjuster had contacted us but Hubby and were both out at work. In June 2007 when we made the claim there were many people who were really struggling. Families, old people and more were having to live in temporary accommodation or in the upstairs of their homes, whilst their houses were dried out and renovated. Some poor devils had no insurance at all. We decided to be patient. After all we had no visible damage to our property and many other people's needs were greater than ours.

AUGUST 2007

We had booked our 2007 holiday way back in 2006. As our holiday approached we did not want to miss the insurance loss adjuster and so I contacted them to see what was happening. The answer was a big fat zero. We still needed the loss adjuster to visit before anything was decided. We arranged for a visit in early September, after we arrived back from holiday and off we flew to the Algarve.

SEPTEMBER 2007

The Loss Adjuster visited and took photographs and measurements of our home but said that nothing could be assessed until a restoration company had been appointed. This company would handle the drying out process and advise the loss adjuster and insurance company of the extent of the damage.

OCTOBER 2007

The first restoration company were appointed, looked around our home, said that they did not think there was much damage but would install drying equipment and see what was happening. They needed inspection hatches creating through our floors before they could do any of this though. They did not make the inspection hatches themselves and we would have to wait for the insurer's joiner to do that.

END OF NOVEMBER 2007

Hubby received a phone call asking him if we were pleased with the restoration work, now that everything was completed. As he screeched down the phone "IT HAS NOT EVEN STARTED YET" I could feel a sense of doom. It turned out that our claim had been closed in error when the person handling it had left his job.

JANUARY 2008

Once it was near Christmas I told them they could "shove it" until the New Year. The builder that the insurer's were going to use had already told us that he would not be able to do any work until at least March 2008 anyway.

Having had that many people handling our claim, at that many different locations around the country, our phone bill was through the roof. Eventually I liaised with them via emal as much as possible.

At the end of January, after I complained to the insurer's, we were told that we could use our own builder, if we knew one, and that they would sack the restoration company and appoint one that would do the inspection hatches themselves. This ended up being both good and bad but at least things moved on.

All of our downstairs belongings went off to storage, the builders stripped off what plaster they needed to, moisture levels were taken and the drying equipment was installed. We attempted to live upsatirs, as we were not given any other option. There was a TV and Microwave in our bedroom but life was not easy. With two large dogs and a hubby that works nights my weekends were spent hiding away in the spare bedroom. It was cold as it was still winter and the house was freezing.

Finally in early March, after an exasperated call to the loss adjuster, we were loaned a caravan. This was housed on our small front garden which meant demolishing the wall, removing our fence and more. By now there were a fair few more caravans appearing nearby. Later in the year I found out that we could claim an Upheaval Allowance for the 6 weeks we lived upstairs, with few amenities, prior to this caravan arriving. If a friend had not told me though the loss adjuster would not have, and we would have never known about this payment.

Remember that loss adjusters seem to only want to let you know a limited amount of information because it is their interests to keep your claim low. Ask around and find out for yourself what you are entitled to.

We really opted for the caravan, in the end though, as the woman at the office, who I spoke to on the phone, told me that we were not covered for the kenneling of our dogs. This meant a hotel or the like was out of the question. When I finally found my insurance policy I realised that she had lied. I did not do anything about this but made sure that our final loss adjuster knew that I was aware, that I had been misled. Still you live and learn.

MARCH 2008

With nothing agreed and the builder asking for confirmation of the work I was exasperated. Sat one particular day, trying to get hold of the loss adjuster, and getting nowhere, I contacted the financial ombudsman and hey presto.

He was appalled at our treatment, especially as it was flood damage. He wrote to the insurers and in no time at all I received a letter saying that they were investigating and then in no time at all we received an apology. From then on things moved on purposefully. Well as far as the insurers were concerned. The builder was another matter.

APRIL 2008

I won't detail too much and bore you to death. This hub is more about giving advice to those who may find themselves in a similar quandary. I do want to show you the potential problems though. At a time when there has been much flooding builders and similar workmen are all busy. Temporary accommodation is at a premium. It is not easy for anyone.

April saw our house finally classed as dry. The restoration company gave us a drying certificate and work commenced, if not a bit erratically. The builder had good and bad points. He was local and generally did good work. However he had taken on more work than he could cope with and so everyone of his customers just got a little work at a time.

All of this just about drove me around the bend. I considered sacking the builder but with so much work already started it seemed pointless. We borrowed a little money and, with our savings added, decided to revamp our home whilst it was such a mess. After a dreadful Summer living in a caravan we finally moved back into our home in late September 2008. The outside work that was needed meant that work was only completed in late November 2008.

I only live in a small three bed roomed terrace house and not a huge palace. The time lapses on this claim meant that what would possibly have been a small and cheap claim, became a mammoth, expensive one. I almost wonder if it would have been better to just let the flood water come in and claim for everything. Then, like others, I would have claimed for the lot and had the work done quickly.

Still it is all in the past now and here comes the advice.

1. Ensure that you are aware of the best ways to protect your home and family in the event of flooding. A simple plan that all of the family are aware of may make the difference between life and death, in a worse case scenario.
2. Make an insurance claim as soon as possible after something such as flooding.
3. Keep a note of names, dates and times when you contact anyone or they contact you.
4. Get email addresses as it will be cheaper for you to contact anyone necessary. You will also be able to keep a hard and an electronic copy for your records.
5. Do not sit back prepared to be patient. Others will be demanding attention and I am afraid these days those who shout the loudest get attention.
6. Contact your local council to see if there is any help on offer. Ours offered a Council Tax rebate for those affected and offered some free paint and the like.
7. If you have to live upstairs, whilst your home is restored, your insurance company should pay you. They usually allow so much per person. The amount will depend on if you still have cooking and laundering facilities. We claimed the minimum but you are free to contest what the insurance company allow you.
8. Our insurers had a company that dealt with most of our claim. Most insurance companies do this. If you disagree with anything decided by the loss adjuster, or this company, contact the Insurance Companies Claims Department direct. For instance some people were told that they would only get new kitchen base units. The top ones were to be left as they were above the flood water. With negotiation many found that they were able to get anything up to 100% of the cost of these.
9. Consider your safety and sanity. Choose where is the best place for you to live whilst your house is restored. Remember it could be a long drawn out process. In my City some people whose homes were flood damaged were out of their homes for nearly two years. Some still are.
10. If you have additional expenses, due to temporary relocation, such as travel expenses, claim them, if applicable.
11. Contact the Financial Ombudsmen if you are having problems. They will always offer assistance and often this contact will be enough to move the insurers on.
12. I would also like to say make an honest claim. Our was and this is reflected in the fact that our insurance premiums have not increased.
13. After a claim such as ours it will be impossible to transfer insurance company for at least three years.
14. Some people had swapped their insurance company just after the floods. Finding secondary flooding months down the road was then more worrying for them. However your original insurer will have to foot the bill. Contact them to make a claim.
15. Keep a note of what you need to claim. It may keep changing and it is easy to get overburdened and confused. For example, after all the drying equipment had left our home we were presented with an electricity bill for £950. Thankfully the insurers worked out what was probably due to the driers and paid out an appropriate sum of money.
16. If you have a caravan make sure that it is suitable. Ours looked fine but the heating and cooking facilities never worked properly. In early March it was freezing and eventually it became just another nightmare.
17. Finally, be assertive. Do not rant and rave as this will get you nowhere. However assert yourself and persevere. You will have to anyway.

One of my nephews had a loss adjuster visit his home back in 2007. He was told that his secondary flooding was slight. The insurer's ensured that minor repairs were made to his home and gave him a new carpet.

Now, in the last week or two, 2 years later,  he has found out that his home is severely flood damaged. He is now looking at a similar situation to the one we experienced. However with two young children I do not envy him.

Do not settle for what you are told unless you are truly satisfied. Over the years insurers have made a killing at the expense of homeowners. Now with global warming it looks like the tables are set to turn, but will they pay up. I doubt it.

Bear in mind that loss adjusters receive huge bonuses for keeping the cost of claims to a minimum. Knowing this may help you see them in their true light.