Amber JBA index

[PeriwinkleBlues]

Hi, I'm buying my first house and the searches have just come back. They say that there is a high significant risk of surface water flooding and that the JBA insurability index for the property is amber. However, there are no recorded flooding incidents, according to the report.

Solicitor has recommended checking with insurers, which I will try to do tomorrow as don't seem to be able to do it online. They have also asked if I want a flood risk report but I'm not sure what additional info this would provide.

Does anyone have experience of this who could help me put that into context or give me an idea of what to do next. I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't buy it. My main concern is selling the house on again, as this isn't going to be a forever home. Would a mortgage lender touch it? (I won't be getting a mortgage)

Thanks

Yeah, just get some quotes from an aggregator. Typically the only question you will get asked is distance from a watercourse (so not surface water flooding).
Some insurers will have jba models built into their underwriting and these will probably be more expensive. But many insurers will use another ( or no) model which will give different results ( flood modelling is still really in it's infancy compared to other nataral perils).
The ea publish some free data regarding flooding including surface water this may well differ from jba.
flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk/
I wouldn't bother with a flood risk report. It will just be the view of one model. Looking at the ea info and combining that with some quotes will arm you with the info you need.

Thanks, Tulips. Do you know if it would make it difficult to get a mortgage on?

Also, do I need to specifically tell an insurer of the high risk, or do they already have access to such info via via the address? I got some online quotes no problem last night.

Shouldn't have any impact on mortgage I would not have thought, no expert tho.

As this is residential policy, need to mention the JBA report to any insurer. Just answer the questions/assumptions related to flood honestly - these are typically distance to water and perhaps also history of flood.
The fact that you have competitive quotes from the main players is a good sign - if it was a really bad risk you wouldn't - residential insurance in this country is a high volume, low profit per policy kinda thing so insurers don't want any dodgy risks.

There is a small chance that the goalpost (in terms of what is an acceptable flood risk) may move at some point in the future so I would defo check the EA risk of flooding via the link I posted above. If that says low all good, if it says high.....

Thanks for your help, tulips. I might have to rethink!