Disaster Recovery Leaders
About Disaster Care
Disaster Care has been restoring properties and lives since 2005. What started as a clear belief, that people in the middle of a property disaster deserve expert, compassionate care, has grown into a nationwide network of specialist disaster recovery professionals.
Our Story
From a school in Farnham to a UK-wide network. How Disaster Care grew, and why the founding principles still shape everything we do.
Our People
Meet the leadership team driving Disaster Care forward, and the network partners delivering on the ground.
Achievements and Accreditations
British Insurance Awards, industry standards, and the technical credentials that underpin our work.
ESG and Sustainability
How we restore responsibly, from energy-efficient drying to contents restoration that reduces landfill.
Who We Are
Disaster Care is a nationwide specialist in disaster recovery and damage restoration. We work with Aviva and their policyholders following fire, flood, escape of water, accidental damage, and the full range of property loss events that disrupt lives and homes.
For many people, encountering Disaster Care means experiencing one of the most difficult moments of their lives. Everything about our organisation, from how we train our technicians to how we select our network partners to how our teams communicate on site, is designed to make that experience more manageable.
Our network of 29 branches covers the whole of the UK, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each branch is run by an experienced specialist business owner, selected for their values and their care for customers as much as for their technical skill. The people coming to your property are not just trained specialists. They are people who genuinely care about the outcome for you and your family.
Our central team in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, coordinates every instruction carefully, matching the right branch to the right job based on location, specialism, and performance.
What We Stand For
Everything we do at Disaster Care connects back to a single founding belief: that people facing a property disaster deserve the best care, the best expertise, and genuine compassion throughout. That belief is not a marketing position. It is the reason the business exists.
Our Vision
To build the best sustainable disaster recovery community, delivering the very best outcomes.
Our Purpose
To build resilient communities by protecting lives, homes, and livelihoods.
Our Mission
We deliver disaster recovery with care, expertise, and innovation, putting people first, restoring what matters most, and building resilience across the UK.
Our Values
Quality First
We hold ourselves to the highest technical and professional standards, because your home deserves nothing less.
People Driven
Our decisions start with the people affected, whether that is the homeowner in front of us, a colleague, or a partner in our network.
Kind
Disaster recovery is personal work. We bring genuine warmth and care into every home we enter.
Reliable
When we make a commitment, we keep it. You can count on us to be there, to be honest, and to follow through.
Respectful
We treat every person, every home, and every belonging with the dignity they deserve.
Supportive
We are with you throughout the recovery, not just at the beginning. And we support our network partners to build businesses they are proud of.
About Disaster Care
The National Flood School was founded in 1988 with a single ambition: to raise the standard of disaster restoration in the UK by training the people who do the work. CEO Chris Netherton’s father brought specialist flood restoration expertise back from the United States and built a dedicated training facility to share it. That commitment to expertise has been at the heart of everything Disaster Care has done ever since.
Going into someone’s home after a flood or a fire, when they are stressed and don’t know where to turn, and being the person who can say: we know exactly what to do, and we are going to make this right. That is what this work is about. It always has been.”
Chris Netherton, CEO and Founder, Disaster Care
Chris joined the family business in his late twenties and spent his early career learning every aspect of the trade from the ground up. Disaster Care was founded in 2005, and Chris joined as CEO in 2006, bringing with him a conviction that people facing a property disaster deserve dedicated specialists, people whose entire focus is on getting a home back to normal as quickly and carefully as possible.
The business built its reputation on quality, beginning as a specialist in high net worth property restoration and earning the trust of some of the UK’s most discerning homeowners and insurers. In 2014, Aviva approached Disaster Care because of that reputation, and the partnership that followed transformed the business into the nationwide network it is today.
Becoming an Aviva company in 2026 is the next chapter in that story. The founding belief has not changed. The people coming to your property today carry the same values that Chris brought to his first job.
NATIONAL FLOOD SCHOOL FOUNDED
1988
The National Flood School is founded, drawing on specialist flood restoration expertise developed in the United States. It becomes the UK’s first dedicated training facility for structural drying and disaster restoration.
DISASTER CARE FOUNDED
2005
Disaster Care is founded, with a clear belief that specialist restorers should lead disaster recovery.
CHRIS NETHERTON JOINS DISASTER CARE
2006
Chris Netherton joins as CEO, bringing hands-on restoration experience and a founding commitment to putting the customer first.
AVIVA PARTNER WITH DISASTER CARE
2014
Aviva approaches Disaster Care, recognising the quality and reputation built over nearly a decade. The partnership marks the beginning of Disaster Care’s growth into a truly national network.
BRITISH INSURANCE AWARD
2019
Disaster Care wins the British Insurance Award for Contents Restoration, the first of a series of national industry recognitions.
FULL UK COVERAGE
2024
The network reaches 29 branches, providing full UK coverage including Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. Network capacity grows by 45%.
IICRC APPLIED TRAINING
2025
The National Flood School becomes the first facility in the UK approved to deliver IICRC Applied Structural Drying training, setting a new benchmark for technical training standards in disaster restoration.
14-DAY DRYING INITIATIVE
2025
The 14-Day Drying Initiative delivers measurable improvements in claim cycle times and policyholder outcomes. Disaster Care is entered for the British Insurance Awards 2026.
DISASTER CARE BECOMES AN AVIVA COMPANY
2026
Disaster Care becomes Aviva’s specialist disaster recovery partner, bringing category-leading expertise to Aviva policyholders across the UK.
The National Flood School
At the heart of everything Disaster Care does is a commitment to training the best people to the highest standards. The National Flood School, founded in 1988 and now based at HR Wallingford, is the physical expression of that commitment.
The School offers IICRC-accredited training in water restoration, structural drying, mould remediation, and fire restoration, providing qualifications that are recognised across the industry. It is the first facility in the UK approved to deliver IICRC Applied Structural Drying training, the qualification that underpins the technical excellence of the Disaster Care network.
The School trains Disaster Care’s own network first, but its doors are open to professionals from across the sector. When you see a Disaster Care team at your door, you are seeing the output of nearly four decades of investment in standards.
The People Behind Disaster Care
Disaster Care is led by a team of specialists who between them hold decades of experience in disaster recovery, insurance, and technical standards. They are supported by a network of 29 specialist branch partners, each running their own business with the shared values and standards that define Disaster Care.
CEO and Founder
Chris Netherton
Chris has spent his entire career in disaster restoration, beginning with his first job at fourteen for his father’s business and the National Flood School. He founded Disaster Care in 2005 and joined as CEO in 2006, with a conviction that people facing a property disaster deserve specialist care. Under his leadership, Disaster Care has grown from a specialist operation in the South East into the UK’s leading disaster recovery network, and is now an Aviva company.
Chief Operating Officer
Louise Edwards
Louise oversees the day-to-day operations of Disaster Care, ensuring the network delivers consistently against the quality and service commitments that define the brand. She has been central to the growth of the business and to the cultural values that run through every branch and every team.
Chief Financial Officer
Kelly Futcher
Kelly brings rigorous commercial discipline to Disaster Care’s growth strategy, ensuring the business invests in the right capabilities and maintains the financial foundations for long-term resilience.
Chief Commercial Officer
Vikki-Marie Seal
Vikki leads Disaster Care’s commercial strategy, developing the partnerships, propositions, and client relationships that drive the business forward.
Technical Director
Nick Lea
Nick leads the National Flood School and the technical standards programme across the Disaster Care network. A recognised expert in water restoration, structural drying, and mould remediation, Nick is responsible for ensuring that every branch operates to IICRC and BDMA standards, and that the wider industry benefits from the training capability the School provides.
Network Manager
Paul Sharkey
Paul manages the growth and performance of the Disaster Care branch network. Since joining, he has increased network capacity by 45%, bringing on new branch partners who combine technical excellence with the people-first ethos that Disaster Care demands.
Head of Contents
Julia Stockdale
Julia leads Disaster Care’s specialist contents restoration service, overseeing the recovery of soft contents, hard contents, and electronic items. Her team works to restore what matters most to homeowners, reducing unnecessary replacement and returning belongings with the care they deserve.
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