This book is a short practical guide to the legal issues that arise regarding flood protection and claims for compensation. It is intended to be a helpful resource for established practitioners as well as an introduction to those new to the subject. Whilst no flood event is the same, much of flood protection is about risk management and many of the issues have arisen in the past. We can learn much from the caselaw and this is a situation where, as Lord Justice Jackson acknowledged in a case in 2014, “the judge is required to carry out a somewhat daunting multifactorial assessment”.
The chapters of the book are intended to be read in the context of the regulatory background, established by the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The book describes the key concepts in flood risk management, Flood Zones and Flood Resilience, and the relationship with planning law. It also discusses the use of a measured Duty of Care in nuisance and negligence claims, and what defending against flood water as the “common enemy” can mean. The subjects covered include the different roles of all the public authorities involved, and their potential duties and liabilities for compensation, including in terms of human rights law.
