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Original poster

Insurance for house at risk of flooding

16 replies

BlaWearie · 22/05/2017 13:37

Can anyone recommend an insurer for a house close to water and at moderate risk of flooding? I'm hoping to purchase a new house but want to make sure it is insurable before I proceed. Most of the mainstream insurers decline to quote. I've tried Admiral but wasn't completely convinced that they knew what they were talking about.

OP posts:
Lucisky · 22/05/2017 14:13

How much do you love this house? A moderate risk of flooding sounds very bad. Speaking from experience, being flooded is one of the most distressing things that can happen to you, and I would put it up there with bereavement for the extreme stress and angst it causes

Lucisky · 22/05/2017 14:19

Sorry, posted too soon. After being flooded, and perhaps spending up to a year out of your house while it's repaired, your excess may well be over 25K, and you will be worried every time there is prolonged rainfall, thinking that you may be about to flood again. Your house will become unsellable. If insurers are turning the property down, take heed. Have you asked the current owners who they are insured with and what their excess is?

Seaelf · 22/05/2017 15:56

If mainstream insurers are not prepared to quote I'd walk away, look for something else. Any quote you are likely to get is going to be loaded with exclusions & a hefty excess. If you are flooded, don't expect insurer to pay up easily, they don't and won't.

AGrinWithoutACat · 22/05/2017 20:21

Try specialist brokers - Adrian Flux insured our flood risk house, now we are with NFU

ChippyMinton · 22/05/2017 20:25

Is it an established property, or a brand new house? If established, google Flood Re for details of the scheme put in place by government and the insurance industry. If brand new, you may find it hard to insure and I personally wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

TunaStubbs · 22/05/2017 20:33

Stay away. So many friends and colleagues were evacuated from their homes and in temp accommodation for 6-12 months as a result of the catastrophic storms and associated floods in north east Scotland some 18 months ago. They'll never sell unless major defence works are built (and they're not being built).

HappyGoLuckyGirl · 22/05/2017 20:34

I work in the insurance industry and have lost count of the number of houses I've been to that have been flooded.

I would never buy a house with a flood risk. I've seem the distress and genuine devastation it causes in people's lives.

Appin · 22/05/2017 20:42

Don't buy it.

If you do, try Aviva. We got insurance through them for the first time this year, as a result of Flood Re. Previously, no mainstream insurer would quote for us.

Original poster
BlaWearie · 23/05/2017 10:38

Curiously. some insurers will insure it without a problem, others won't. I can't insure it through the comparison websites, but Nationwide were okay about it . They only wanted to know if it had ever been flooded or if it was about to be flooded.
Happy, how much risk is too much, in your mind? 14 years ago a flood came to within 210 metres of the property. It just doesn't seem that risky to me - although I'm definitely not playing down what some people have been through.

OP posts:
RandomlyGenerated · 23/05/2017 11:53

Have you looked at the flood risk map from EA or SEPA? That will give you an idea of the likelihood of future flooding.

I found Hiscox were good for a house close to a stream (but with very low risk of flooding due to house being several metres above stream level).

AlletrixLeStrange · 23/05/2017 12:10

I second Adrian Flux.
Ring insurance brokers, they usually have better access to specialist insurance companies (I used to work for one)

MiaowTheCat · 23/05/2017 13:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DancingLedge · 23/05/2017 13:12

Try NFU

Oddsocksforeveryone · 23/05/2017 13:22

Houses in our area were flooded last year, people evacuated, houses looted in the night while owners were evacuated etc. Many people's lives were ruined.
Even though we didn't flood we were on warning and in the middle of the night had to decide whether or not to take furniture/possessions upstairs.
It is not a position I would willingly put myself in.
The problem is that when it is dry, flood risk can seem a bit silly. When your road turns into a river it is totally surreal, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

peukpokicuzo · 23/05/2017 13:23

You have presumably heard of climate change? This is a real actual thing that is happening. Anywhere that is a moderate risk of flooding now will be high risk of flooding in 10 years. Buy on higher ground. Seriously.

PartyintheKitchen · 23/05/2017 13:30

Have a look at the Flood Re website which can give you information on who will insure properties at risk of flooding.

www.floodre.co.uk/homeowner/find-an-insurer/

Best of luck!

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