RURAL insurer NFU Mutual had staff from local offices in Helmsley and Kirkbymoorside, as well as its regional base in York, out at dawn on Monday to help policyholders whose homes, vehicles or businesses had been damaged.

Chief claims manager David Sweeney said the aim had been to help victims get emergency repairs under way and make immediate payments where necessary. Agents gave advice on the spot, made arrangements for damage inspections and in some cases settled claims immediately.

One area of concern is the level of uninsured losses.

NFU Mutual said farmers were typically insured for damage to buildings, vehicles and livestock, but there was no insurance for crop losses on the market.

A spokeswoman for the North-East branch of the NFU said one farmer was facing £100,000 worth of uninsured losses.

She said: "Many miles of fencing have gone, people have been losing their grass crop as they prepared it for silage, feedstuffs might have been lost and there are old buildings that might not have been insured in the same way as a house.

"Initially we were getting a lot of calls from farmers saying they had lost a lot of animals, but as the days have gone by some of the animals are being found and returned."

Farmers affected by floods have a source of support in Farm Crisis Network, a national organisation which has 25 volunteers from Christian and agricultural backgrounds in Yorkshire, co-ordinated by Helen Benson, based near Bedale.

She said: "Some farmers will just try to get on with it, but as it sinks in, and as they realise the full financial implications, that is when they might need us. This is not going to be solved overnight. On some farms, it has been really serious."

Farm Crisis Network does not offer financial help or direct advice but can point farmers in the right direction for help. It works closely with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, the NFU and the Tenant Farmers' Association.

A fully confidential helpline is available from 7am to 11pm all year round on 07002 326326.

Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh, whose constituency includes Hambleton villages overtaken by the floods, said: "Those directly affected will be eligible for insurance losses, but my fear is that in the case of farmland losses, these may be uninsurable. I will be liaising with the NFU, the Country Land and Business Association, the TFA and others to investigate what action can be taken to save the crops or retrieve their value."