Financial and other support

Council Tax and Business Rates Relief (including Business Hardship scheme):

District councils can give you help and advice around:

  • Temporarily homelessness, housing benefits, and business rates relief.
  • Council Tax reduction for the time your property is uninhabited because of flooding. 

Grants from Somerset Community Foundation Flood Relief Fund
Phase 1 and Phase 2 grants for emergency needs are no longer available.

If you have been flooded you can still apply for:

  • Phase 3 grants towards the cost of repair and re-instatement of homes and gardens.
  • Additional flat-rate grant of £500 for flooded households (Flooded households that have an income of £3,000 or less per month after accommodation costs and council tax are eligible for this grant)
  • Grants of £500 are available for flooded households, to help cover the cost of professional advice to undertake work to increase the flood resilience of your property.

For information please visit www.somersetcf.org.uk/apply-for-a-grant/grants-programmes/flood-relief-grants or telephone 01749 34494. 

Business Grants and Support
The Government has made available funds for grants to businesses. There is also relief from Business Rates. For more details contact your District Council or the County Council or visit support for Somerset businesses in our register. 

Tax
HMRC has a telephone helpline for anyone affected by severe weather, including floods floods. The helpline offers fast, practical help and advice on a wide range of tax problems.

Call HMRC on 0800 904 7900, Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm; Sat-Sun, 8am to 4pm, excluding bank holidays.

For more information on the help available please visit www.gov.uk/government/news/tax-helpline-launched-to-support-people-affected-by-flooding or 

Farming and livestock-related support and advice
If you are an NFU member you can contact the NFU CallFirst team on 0870 845 8458. Lots of useful information is available from the NFU via: www.nfuonline.com/science-environment/flooding/severe-weather-and-farming/ and www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news/flooding-how-you-can-help/ 

Mail re-direction:
If you have been evacuated due to the floods you can get free mail re-direction through Royal Mail or have your post dropped to a local sorting office if you cannot get in/out of your local area to have post delivered as normal. Please call Royal Mail on 08457 740740 to set-up a postal arrangement.

Con-men: What about rural crime and con-men?

There are often traders who appear after a flood incident to try and benefit from other peoples misfortunes. Local authorities work closely with colleagues in Trading Standards and will be able to provide leaflets and advice on these issues and put people in contact with the appropriate staff for more advice. Please visit www.devon.gov.uk/tradingstandards for more information.