Is Your New Home at Risk of Flooding?
January 1st, 2010 by admin
Seeing flood warnings and people recovering from floods on the news is becoming a regularoccurrence. Cumbria has been the latest place to be hit by flash floods this year. With climate change having quite a large effect at the moment, the amount of homes at risk from flooding is expected to rise.
The Environment Agency is currently predicting that 1 out of every 6 homes is at risk of flooding. With this number expected to rise next year, no doubt we will be seeing even more flood reports on the news.
One of the biggest problems people in areas at risk of flooding are facing is having to buy home insurance, especially if it’s insurance for holiday homes. Because it can cost anywhere up to £40,000 to insurers after a flood claim, you need to factor in expensive insurance when buying any property. Fortunately, there are resources online where you can find out whether your home is at risk.
If you are currently living, or are looking to buy a property in England or Wales, you can visit the Environment Agency’s website where they list flood maps of the UK. If you are a Scottish resident, you can visit the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website for more flood informaton.
If you do own a home or are going to buy a home in a flood risk area, getting your insurance won’t be a simple task. You’ll generally find that as soon as your home has been flooded, your premiums or excesses will rise. You may even find that you are refused a policy renew due to your house being in an area at risk of flooding.
With each flood claim costing insurers around £20,000 to £40,000, you should be prepared to see excesses of aup to £30,000. This is the reason why you should add any expensive insurance costs onto house prices when you are looking to buy a home. Getting second homes insurance can result in even more problems. Due to you leaving the property empty for most of the year, you have to watch for exclusions and high excesses.
I guess this wouldn’t be a problem if you were looking for Spanish house insurance.
