Flooding is the costliest natural disaster worldwide. In the UK flooding is listed as a major risk on the National Risk Register with surface water flooding the most likely cause of damage to properties.

Climate change adaptation is an increasingly important field and will involve a range of actors from national governments to private companies, communities and households.

This paper is an initial attempt to consider the role in adaptation of insurance and related risk sharing and risk transfer methods, in the context of a comprehensive approach to risk reduction and risk management.