THE wettest August on record has sent storm insurance claims soaring by up to 500 per cent in parts of England, according to experts.

Trevor Latimer, chief operating officer at GAB Robins, the loss adjuster, said his company had handled five times as many claims this month as in August 2003, particularly in the North East and South East of England.

Mr Latimer said the figures were exacerbated because, as well as this August being unseasonably wet, last August was unusually dry. “Claims are only starting to tail off now,” he said.

The past month has been wetter in many parts of the UK than any August on record, although the nation received more rain during the summer of 1912 than it has this summer.

The Met Office said that areas such as the Midlands, northern and eastern England and parts of Scotland had experienced double their usual August rainfall. The wettest place in the UK so far has been Eskdalemuir, in Dumfries and Galloway, which has had 281mm of rain.

The bad weather in August followed a rainy July and storms in June.

Steve Roberts, managing director of WeatherNet, said that he had recorded a 450 per cent increase in storm claims this month, compared with August last year, and that the number of claims was 250 per cent higher than the monthly average.

WeatherNet validates storm claims for insurers by giving them precise information about what weather affected a particular area at a particular time.

Mr Roberts added that lightning damage claims were up by 400 per cent this August, 250 per cent higher than the monthly average.

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