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Original poster

Oh FUCKSTICKS! This is the final straw

43 replies

whomovedmychocolate · 27/06/2011 18:50

We are attempting to buy a lovely house. Our buyers are in place, we are waiting to exchange. One of my final jobs was to organise insurance for the properties. So I called our insurers and asked them for a quote.

They won't cover it - flood risk.

So I called the insurers who currently insure the property.

They won't insure it - floor risk.

So we phoned a high risk insurer and guess what?

Yup, they won't cover it because not only is it a flood risk but we are planning a loft conversion and they don't cover buildings where work is being done.

ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH I have viewed 45 houses, this is one of three I liked, one decided not to sell, one went into a mad bidding war and went for £100k over asking price and this one now is uninsurable.

Fucksticks. Angry Sad

That is all.

OP posts:
TheSecondComing · 27/06/2011 18:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

YaMaYaMa · 27/06/2011 18:55

I usd to deal with Home Insurance and the company was legally obligated to continue to insure a flood risk property - any chance you spoke to someone who didnt know what they were doing?

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 27/06/2011 19:05

We don't need a mortgage. It doesn't have a mortgage. The insurance postcode map of the UK was redrawn last year. Lots of people are apparently getting caught.

YaMaYaMa - yes they are legally obliged to offer cover but they can exclude flooding and only offer basic cover (which amounts to contents of up to 50K) We need contents of at least £100K and we have rebuild costs of £500K - they will only cover £150 Hmm

As I mentioned Fucksticks!

OP posts:
Northernlurker · 27/06/2011 19:06

I think the existing insurers should continue. Is it actually at bad flood risk though? Do you really want t if that's the case?

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 27/06/2011 19:08

I don't know NorthernLurker. It's not entirely clear. The search says it has a 1 in 1000 risk of being flooded per year. Which I read as once in 1000 years it will probably flood. The problem is there is a flood mitigation plan in force in the area because there is a street of housing below this house (which is on a hill FFS) which guides overflow water away from the houses below (but towards us). I noticed when I viewed it had hitching posts for flood stop boards on the garage but they said the environment agency had offered them to everyone and since they were free they said yes. It's never flooded though. It does have 100 metres river frontage though. :(

OP posts:
Thebonkers · 27/06/2011 19:14

Try making contact with the local envt agency and talk to them they will have an actual flood map. I had this problem and showed it to the insurer who had originally said they would insure us but exclude flooding or any claims related to this...

Once I had rustled up this flood map from the envt agency they conceeded we had no 'actual' flood risk.

We are insured with Greenbee part of John lewis FS whoo speicalise in higher contents etc...

You may have loooked at this already but if not hth

Thebonkers · 27/06/2011 19:16

sorry just read the bit about river frontage Sad sorry - but the envt agency may be able to give the insurer more info and they can recalculate.

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 27/06/2011 19:18

Envt agency worked with the insurers to come up with the new flood map Thebonkers, but thanks for trying to think of something. I'm stumped. Perfectly nice house too. :(

OP posts:
lalalonglegs · 27/06/2011 19:21

That's crazy. If you still want the property (and I have to admit, I would be put off), is it worth going to the town where it is located and knocking on doors of insurance brokers there? They must have experience of insuring in the area.

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 27/06/2011 19:23

I've contacted an insurance broker who will get me cover, but in his words 'it may be very expensive and your excess may be five figures' Shock

OP posts:
Honneybunny · 27/06/2011 20:41

hi.
we very briefly looked at a house that turned out to have a 20% (1:5) annual flood risk. we contacted ABI for it, who would then contact us WRT any insurers that would be willing to take on this risk. needless to say that our list was very short, but if the risk is 1:1000 I cannot imagine that it would be that bad.... i thought insurers start the price hike at a risk that is greater than 1-1.5%?

Honneybunny · 27/06/2011 20:46

oh and here you can find out about the flood risk yourself. you can also email the environment agency for a more precise estimate of the floodrisk for specific coordinates you find on their maps. i did this for the house that we were interested in and their >1.5% turned out to work out at 20% when I asked the "Asset System Management Team", as they called themselves.

nocake · 27/06/2011 21:06

1:1000 risk isn't high so I'm really surprised that you're having problems getting insurance. We are in that bracket so I emailed the Environment Agency before offering on the house to find out what information they had. They will also be able to tell you if the house has ever flooded.

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 27/06/2011 22:32

Oh buggeration - it's 1 in 75. :(

OP posts:
risingstar · 28/06/2011 10:48

jeez- what a shame

you cant buy an uninsurable and therefore unmortagable house surely. what is it worth? the impact of it being unmortgagable is huge.

risingstar · 28/06/2011 10:50

also bit confused- how is the water pushed up hill by the plan? how has it got 100 metres river frontage with houses below it?

NorkyButNice · 28/06/2011 11:45

What a shame - I know how awful it is to fall for a house and then not be able to proceed.

I wouldn't buy anywhere unmortgageable though - it would really limit your ability to sell in future.

AitchTwoOh · 28/06/2011 11:46

oh whomoved, i am sorry...

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 28/06/2011 12:54

risingstar - basically there is a river at the end of the back garden and a river 50 metres away from the front of the property.

Impact on value is estimated between 40 and 80% ! Shock

I can't afford to risk 80% of my kid's inheritance. :(

Have told the estate agent we are pulling out. Everyone is really upset and we are now about four weeks from being homeless.

I guess we're going to have to rent for a bit.

OP posts:
AitchTwoOh · 28/06/2011 13:06

what a shame. but also, what a relief that you found out with some time to organise alternative accommodation.

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 28/06/2011 18:42

I haven't rented for 18 years! I don't even know how you do it these days. Oh well, as you say we do at least have some time. Maybe we'll find the perfect (empty) house tomorrow.

OP posts:
BehindLockNumberNine · 28/06/2011 20:35

Whomoved, we had a similar problem this time last year when trying to buy our (bogstandard semi-detached) house which backs onto a lock of the local canal.
Our rear garden is only 65ft long and the canal lock is directly behind it.

The lock is a low-water one, ie when not actively being used passing a boat, the water sits right at the bottom of it, thus 5 meters below ground level.

Still, insurance companies refused to touch it. Bizarre, because the canal is lined with houses, surely they cannot all be uninsurable? We managed to get it insured through Quoteline direct. Might be worth a try?

Sorry you are going through this It is a stress and hassle you do not need.

Original poster
whomovedmychocolate · 28/06/2011 21:12

Good thought but we've given up. The problem is not whether WE can get insurance. If needs be we could stump up a £10K excess and pay for ludicrously expensive cover. But it renders the house unmortgageable.

And you want to be careful, apparently the insurance companies redrew their risk map of the UK in line with the environment agency last year and now the govt has reneged on its promise to provide more flood defences, they are quietly dropping cover for high risk properties. Some people are finding that they renew to find their excess has gone up massively or they just can't get flood cover anymore. :(

OP posts:
BehindLockNumberNine · 28/06/2011 21:19

Yes, I see your point. Sorry to hear you have to walk away from the house you love. (and sorry for your vendor too, presumably it will make it neigh on impossible to sell the house?)

I do worry about the flood risk maps, although when we provided the insurance company with alll the info regarding our house it could be proven that this house has never flooded due to the canal. (floods due to rainwater running off the road above the house mind)

Good luck in the search for your house, hope you find the perfect one soon.

AitchTwoOh · 28/06/2011 21:19

see the thing is, whomoved, i am totally torn between feeling sorry for you and thinking a massive PHEW that you somehow didn't go ahead with this and then find out that it was uninsurable. you live in a beautiful part of the country, i am sure that you will find somewhere even more stunning. (truth be told, if it's the one i am thinking of, it didn't seem very 'you' anyway. looked distinctly un-haunted, for example).