Rain, floods, rising premiums: what your clients expect from you

Pepinster, Verviers, Rochefort. On 15 July 2021, the Vesdre river burst its banks within hours. 39 people lost their lives, 48,000 buildings were damaged, and insurers paid out 2.3 billion euros in claims. Five years on, every episode of heavy rain brings back the same images. And the same question in your clients' minds: "Am I properly covered?"

That is when the broker makes the difference. The one who communicated before the storm is the one clients call during it. The one who shared the right advice is the one they trust afterwards.

What has changed since 2021

The Belgian insurance landscape has shifted significantly in five years. Your clients may not have kept up.

The intervention ceiling has quadrupled. Since 1 January 2024, the natural disaster ceiling has increased from 400 million to 1.6 billion euros. A step forward according to Feprabel, but still insufficient in a scenario comparable to 2021.

Premiums keep climbing. The ABEX index, which tracks construction costs, reached 1,041 points in 2026, up 3.7% in one year. Since 2013, home insurance premiums have risen by over 60%. For properties located in flood-prone areas, the surcharge reaches 30 to 50% above average.

Reinsurers are pulling back. Hein Lannoy, CEO of Assuralia, confirmed that a reinsurer has already left the Belgian market. Gregory Truong, from the Centre d'analyse des risques du changement climatique (Cerac), sums up the situation: "If a massive flood hit Belgium tomorrow, we would be in a situation of chaos."

Your clients are unaware of this context. They receive their renewal notice, see the increase, and don't understand it. This is precisely where your advisory role proves its worth.

Seven essential reminders for your clients

Here are the seven points every broker should share with their clients. Concrete, actionable information that demonstrates your added value.

1. Your fire insurance covers floods. Since 2006, natural disaster coverage has been mandatory in every "simple risks" fire insurance policy in Belgium. This includes flooding, sewer backflow, earthquakes and landslides. Many clients don't know this and assume they need a separate policy.

2. But watch out for high-risk flood zones. An insurer can refuse flood coverage for a building in a high-risk zone (return period of 25 years or less, water height of 30 cm or more). If your client is affected, the Tarification Bureau can step in as a last resort, at a rate of 0.9 per thousand of insured amounts.

3. Check the deductible and coverage limits. Since the 2024 revision, coverage limits have changed. But the specific natural disaster deductible may also have shifted. A client who hasn't reviewed their policy since 2021 could face surprises when filing a claim.

4. Photograph every room in the house. This is the simplest and most effective piece of advice. A photographic inventory of belongings, room by room, drawer by drawer, along with kept purchase receipts, significantly speeds up the claims process. The FPS Economy explicitly recommends it. Suggest your clients do this next weekend.

5. Install a backflow valve. Sewer backflow is the leading cause of basement damage during heavy rain. A backflow valve on the pipes prevents water from flowing back in. Moderate cost, proven effectiveness. Some insurers reward this prevention measure with lower premiums.

6. Raise sensitive equipment. Boiler, electrical panel, freezer: none of these should sit on the ground floor of an exposed basement or ground level. Raising them by a minimum of 7 to 12 centimetres already limits damage considerably. Wall-mounted boilers, installed higher up, are an even safer alternative.

7. Check the flood risk map for your municipality. The Wallonia Geoportal, Brussels Environment and Waterinfo.be offer interactive maps by region. Knowing whether your property sits in a low, medium or high-risk zone is the first step to understanding your coverage and anticipating your risks.

The right time to bring it up

These seven points are only useful if your clients receive them at the right time. Not after the disaster, when the phone is already ringing. Before.

May-June, ahead of summer storms, is the ideal window for a prevention reminder. October, before prolonged autumn rains, is the second. Two targeted, concrete mailings per year, including the checklist and a link to the municipality's flood risk map.

The format that works: a short, practical email the client can save or forward. A clear subject line ("7 things to check before storm season"), actionable content in a three-minute read, and your contact details at the bottom. The client who receives this kind of message knows their broker is watching out for them. They don't go comparison shopping. They stay.

The FPS Economy reminds us that the insured party is obliged to "take all necessary precautions to prevent any worsening of the damage". Neglecting this obligation can reduce the payout. By informing your clients in advance, you also protect them legally.

The broker who communicates retains clients

Every broker knows the streets in their municipality that flood when it rains for three days straight. The basements that take water. The low-lying neighbourhoods. This local knowledge is a structural advantage over any online comparison site or digital neo-insurer.

But this expertise remains invisible if it isn't shared. A prevention email sent at the right moment turns tacit knowledge into perceived value. It reminds the client why they go through a broker rather than an online form.

That is exactly the role of a tool like BrokerMail: sending the right content at the right time, maintaining the relationship between claims, and being the broker who warned rather than the one discovered too late.

The next downpour won't send a warning. The broker who communicated beforehand has already made the difference.