Boosting flood resilience for UK businesses
Intact Insurance and University of Hull are pioneering new testing and innovation for property-level flood resilience in commercial environments
Project summary
The Challenge
A changing climate is increasing flood risk, but current Property Flood Resilience (PFR) standards and products have had limited testing in commercial settings.
The Approach
Intact Insurance and the University of Hull are developing a calibrated testing facility and data-driven tools to help businesses assess and manage their flood risk more effectively.
The Outcome
We aim to drive innovation, improve insurance insight, and expand the PFR market for commercial properties, helping to protect more businesses.
Institutes and centres
Lead academics
Project Partners
Project funded by Intact Insurance
We’re working in partnership to innovate commercial flood resilience solutions
We are identifying gaps in the PFR market where innovation can provide new opportunities to reduce flood risk for commercial properties. By developing new testing and tools we can help insurers, PFR manufacturers, and property owners better manage flood risk.
The Challenge
A changing climate is driving more frequent and severe flooding across the UK, with commercial properties facing unique vulnerabilities. In 2024, weather-related insurance claims surged to £585 million, highlighting the urgent need for effective adaptation strategies.
Despite this growing threat, property-level flood resilience (PFR) remains underdeveloped. The current British Standard uses a binary pass/fail model that doesn’t reflect real-world flood variability. There’s no independent accredited facility currently providing testing for PFR products to this standard, and innovation in the sector has been slow, especially for commercial applications.
This is an exciting opportunity to work with Intact Insurance to build on our flood resilience expertise, improve understanding of how property-level measures can be used to reduce flood risk, and promote flood resilienceStuart McLelland
Professor of Water Science, University of Hull
The team
Intact Insurance Advisor:
Alison Gardner, Head of UK and International Social Impact and ESG, Intact Insurance
The Approach
Intact Insurance and the University of Hull’s Energy and Environment Institute have launched an 18-month research programme to address these gaps. The project will utilise the EEI’s PFRlab – a new independent testing facility for PFR products, starting with doors and barriers, with the potential to include a wide range of measures such as air bricks, vent covers, and sealants.
The research will focus on identifying practical, scalable flood defences that work for operational business environments, addressing challenges like accessibility, security, and high foot traffic. The collaboration will also support the development of data-driven tools to help businesses assess and manage their flood risk more effectively.
As climate change contributes to more intense and frequent flooding, the need for adaptation has never been more urgent. This research plays a vital role in building the evidence base we need to understand what works, where, and for whom.Alison Gardner
Head of UK and International Social Impact and ESG, Intact Insurance
The Impact
The project outcomes are expected to enable manufacturers to innovate more effectively, creating better-designed, lower-cost, and more widely accepted PFR products. By matching products to specific flood risks, we aim to make PFR more cost-effective, accessible, and appealing, driving wider adoption. This will help bridge the gap between need and demand, expanding the market and encouraging uptake.
By focusing on commercial properties, the research opens new opportunities for PFR deployment in environments with high foot traffic, security needs, and accessibility considerations.
Combining product performance data with flood zone information will help insurers better assess risk and resilience, helping to guide mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The work complements national campaigns like “Be Flood Ready” and supports the development of standardised metrics for flood resilience, helping businesses and communities adapt to a stormier climate.
