Home insurers paid out a record £573m in bad weather claims last year, new figures show.
The bumper payment was 36 per cent higher than the £421 million paid in 2022, according to trade body the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
The ABI said the increase in bad weather claims in 2023 was driven by a series of storms, including Babet, Ciaran and Debi, which hit last autumn.
Claims for storm damage to homes amounted to £133 million last year, with storm-related flooding accounting for a further £286 million.
Homeowners also received £153 million in payments for pipe bursts, the bulk of which occurred in early 2023 due to the cold start to the year.
Fully covered: Many homeowners claimed on their insurance last year for damage caused by bad weather.
Home insurance can be spotty when it comes to paying for flood damage to your home and possessions.
This insurance may not cover flood damage to sheds, fences and outbuildings, or the full value of damaged property in your home, for example.
You may also not pay the cost of other accommodation if your home is so flooded that you have to move.
If you live in a flood-prone area, or if your property has flooded before, you may not be able to get any flood coverage.
The cost of insuring a flooded home has risen by £99 in just one year, This is Money reported last month.
The bad weather also damaged a large number of businesses, which submitted compensation claims worth £443 million.
In total, insurers paid out £4.86 billion to homeowners and businesses in 2023.
More than half of this figure (£2.55bn) went towards home insurance claims.
This is an increase of almost 10 per cent on 2022 totals (£2.33bn) and has been driven by climate-related damage, the ABI said.
While the total number of claims remained fairly level, the average claim paid to businesses and homeowners increased to £6,235, an increase of 11 per cent compared to 2022.
ABI policy advisor Louise Clark said: ‘Extreme weather events may no longer seem as rare as they once did as we deal with a changing climate. Insurers continue to be there for affected homeowners, with payouts reaching record levels after a particularly difficult fall and winter with seemingly countless storms from Agnes onward causing major flooding.
“While insurance will continue to protect homeowners and businesses, we cannot afford to lose momentum in our flood defense programme, and we continue to press the Government to invest more in flood defense and maintenance, as well as calling for changes to the planning system to discourage construction where flooding might be most likely.’