First of all, you must remember that insurance companies do not work or stand alone. They belong to a group of or an organization and when you have complaints, they will settle with you based on the organization laws and regulations.

This means that when you have a complaint against your insurance provider or when things did not work out to your satisfaction, you can not just march in their office and demand satisfaction or punch the ear of the sales agent you dealt with when you bought your policy. Your complaints will not be ignored but certain steps will have to be followed before your complaint will reach an appropriate department.

You must remember that your insurance provider is a member of an organization and there is always an expert or appropriate person who will address your complaint. Your flood zone insurance company just needs to settle things in a systematic order because they have their reputation to protect. People entrust their money and their properties to insurance providers, hence the need for them to remain credible before their clients.

The first thing you must remember is when you choose your flood insurance company, make sure that it is a member of one or all insurance organizations. If they are not, then your mind should start working and asking questions. Insurance or trade organizations regulate rules for their member organizations.

In the UK, you could check if your flood insurance company is a member of any of the two main organizations. There is the Insurance Brokers Registration Council (IBRC) and the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Knowing which organization your insurance provider belongs to could easily guide you know where to go.

Insurance providers who belong to any or both of the two main organizations follow the code of conduct that is set down for them so if you have a real complaint, you can expect that your complaint will be handled by more senior members who are experts of the organization.

Then there is the new organization called the General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) which is slowly taking charge of the regulation of the insurance industry. When you have a complaint, you must file your complaint directly to your insurance provider in writing. When they answer and you are not satisfied, find out what the complaints procedure is and follow it.

Your complaint could either fall into the ombudsman scheme or an arbitration scheme.

If the complaint goes to an arbitrator, you and your insurance provider have to commit to accept the arbitrators decision but when it falls to the ombudsman, only your insurance provider has to commit to accept the decision. If you do not agree to the decision of an ombudsman, you can always go to court, that is if you are willing to pay high costs and be patient for the lengthy procedure.