Your local authority may be able to provide sandbags ready for an emergency, and you should prepare a flood pack that you keep upstairs, including a torch, warm clothes, bottles of water and a battery-operated radio. Keep insurance documents, including key phone numbers, in a waterproof bag upstairs too.Also consider specialist flood defence products, such as skirts, which will divert water away from your home, or door and window covers. HR Wallingford, the research firm, runs a certification scheme for products that is supported by the British Standards Institution. Products get a BSI Kitemark, a well-known quality standard for consumer goods. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa; www.sepa .uk) runs a similar service.If you are at risk, take extra precautions. The EA ( www.environment-agency.gov.uk) has a flood map detailing the risk for any postcode in England and Wales.

Disasters, such as last year’s Boscastle flood make headlines but smaller incidents cause major damage.Vicky Emmott, senior underwriting manager at Halifax General Insurance, says: “Prevention is better than cure and many claims could be avoided if people spent a small amount of time preparing homes.”FLOODINGFind out whether your home is an area at risk of flooding. The Met Office is predicting that this winter will be the coldest since 1995-96. “Parts of the UK – especially southern regions – are expected to have temperatures below normal,” a spokesman says.Don’t assume that only people living in remote areas of the country are vulnerable to weather problems. Thousands of homes in London and the South-east are in areas that the EA deems to be at risk of flooding, while the majority of claims paid out by insurers are on properties in urban locations. However, there is evidence that British homeowners are increasingly vulnerable to all sorts of bad weather. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says its members paid out £6bn in weather-related claims between 1998 and 2003, twice as much as in the previous five years.
It isn’t just flooding that poses a risk to your home.

Nearly 5 million people in England and a further 2 million people in Wales live in areas at risk from flooding, reveals the latest report from the Environment Agency (EA), published on Wednesday. Two-fifths of those affected have no idea they are vulnerable, the Government agency warns.Many people believe climate change is irrevocably changing Britain’s weather, but scientists are divided. Critical illness cover can be riddled with small-print, however, so Kathy needs to take advice.Finally, Barker recommends that Kathy writes a will immediately because her separated status could complicate the distribution of assets upon her untimely death.For a free financial check-up, write to Wealth Check, ‘The Independent’, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS, or e-mail cash independent.co.uk. Thousands of people in northern England, Wales and Scotland face a miserable weekend mopping up their homes after severe flooding this week.