FTB in need of insurance in high flood risk area

stewie_griffin

Hi

The house that I'm intending to buy is in a high risk flood area (I thought this would be the case as it's 5-600m away from the river Trent) so a copy of the flood report had to be sent to my mortgage company (Nationwide). They've just got back to me (after 3 weeks grrr!!) to say that their valuers say this won't affect the mortgage but Norwich Union, who do their insurance, won't insure the property so I'd need to find another company first.

I've done some searching online however the quotes I'm getting don't make it 100% if I'd be properly covered. I realise I'm going to have to do some calling round but was hoping someone here would have some previous experience to point me in the right direction.

The house is on an estate which has approximately 150 houses on it so surely these all have insurance? Is it worth asking my solicitor to contact the seller to see what company he has insurance with?

I'm quite close to completion now, the contacts have been signed, but until I can get buildings insurance I can't exchange. Obvious;y if I was to pull out now it would cost me £100's so I'm hoping someone out there will be prepared to insure me.

TIA

RAS

Ask the existing owner. Once you have moved ask your other neighbours.

Doozergirl

Hi stewie

It's certainly not the end of the world! Martin would always recommend that you don't buy your home insurance from your lender as it will be more expensive than shopping around anyway, so you've been saved there.

There are a few of the big brand, general insurers who really don't like risk and so if part of your postcode is liable to flooding then they will put a blanket ban on the area. I've had some experience of this (working for an insurer and in the Severn area!).

You can try for a start using the comparison websites (gocompare, confused.com etc) and see what they come up with as they do check with a lot of insurers and the question will be 'has it flooded' which I guess the answer is no! The psotcode may may flag for some insurers and they might decline to quote, but I think you will definitely get some results.

If you don't then much easier than ringing around (you're still doing that?!) then just approach a local insurance broker in the area who will have a great knowledge of genuinely affected areas and finding insurers for affected postcodes.

Don't forget to use a cashback website when you're doing your internet searches. I'm using quidco to look for my in-laws insurance today. I don't click through to the cheaper insurers, I choose a more expensive one to get my £1 or £1.50 for each search. Then compare the big cashback insurers (£50-60)against the cheaper insurers on the aggregator lists and make a separate application to get the cashback that way. Last year the policy was £100 and I got £75 cashback from LloydsTSB (cheaper than the staff discount!)

stewie_griffin

Thanks for the replies. I've had a look on a few of the comparison sites and have been able to get some results by ticking no to the question 'has it flooded' however there isn't any options to say it is in a flood zone so I'm a bit dubious about going ahead with the application. Because I've obvioiusly given my address for the comparison can I assume that the insurers databases know that it's a flood area?

Doozergirl

stewie_griffin wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I've had a look on a few of the comparison sites and have been able to get some results by ticking no to the question 'has it flooded' however there isn't any options to say it is in a flood zone so I'm a bit dubious about going ahead with the application. Because I've obvioiusly given my address for the comparison can I assume that the insurers databases know that it's a flood area?

Yes, the comparision sites are feeding that information directly to the insurers - each insurer weights every piece of information you give them according to the risk they feel it presents and quote accordingly. Postcode plays a huge part in that. It's incredibly intricate and will be fine tuned when you go through to the insurer...

There is no question on any form 'is it in a flood risk area?' - they assess that risk themselves; they will have more than enough claims information to know better than you! It will ask you how far from a watercourse but not if it is a risk area.

Don't worry about Norwich Union - they are a high quality general insurer who have good claims experience etc but that will be because they won't approach even slightly bigger risks, so they can afford to pay out without much quibble. General insurers, in my own experience, can be guilty of generalising!

stewie_griffin

Thank you very much Doozergirl you've helped put my mind at rest. Do you know if my chosen insurance company will need a copy of the flood report sending to them, as Norwich Union (Nationwide) didn't mention anything until they had the flood report, but obviously already had the address details.

Doozergirl

Doubt it, stewie. Insurers know how to price risk because they know exactly which houses flood because they have to deal with the claims! All that claims information is what goes to building their pricing models. They will, I'm sure, have all the relevant flood reporting data as well in their databases.

Mortgage company is happy, they will maybe want sight of the cover note from your insurer.

Good luck with the rest of the purchase process!

stewie_griffin

I'll spend some time on comparison sites over the weekend to try and find the best deal . I would have thought Nationwide will send something to my solicitors so I'll speak to them on monday to double check on the best way to procede.

Is there normally on option on the insurers websites to say I'm in the process of buying so don't have a start date yet?

stewie_griffin

I've just had a look through the flood report and under Section D - Norwich Union Flood Risk and Insurability, it does state 'the insurer's assessment of flood risk at this property indicates that there is a significant risk of flooding, and without evidence of appropriate flood defences it would not be prepared to insure the property'.

I know I should have read this earlier but I wish my solicitor had brought this up with me :mad: If I'd known I could have arranged insurance with a different company weeks ago and probably would have a completion date by now.

caveman_si

Stewi I have no idea which flood report you have got but unless its from the Environment Agency Directly imo its probably not worth the paper its written on.

Go to the EA website and see for yourself what flood risk the area is at environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/default.aspx
Look in the whats in your back yard and you can see the data there for yourself.
Also have alook at the sections here about flooding:
environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/31662.aspx

And at the Environment Agency ABI flooding insurance fact sheet:
environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31654.aspx

Then call your local EA office and speak to the external relations team for them to give you details on your flood risk.
They can do you a report for £25 that will detail exactly the flood risk the Enviroment Agency believe you are at and what if any Flood Defences are present in the area. The report is in a format agreed with the ABI for use in insurance.

Read the other bits about insurance as there was a deal done by the ABI and the EA to ensure insurance could be provided to people in the flood map areas but I cant remember the terms off the top of my head.
But as a first point of call, Call the EA to check the data youve been told/given is correct.

Norwich Union did there own flood mapping back in 2003/4 while similar to the EAs it was differnent I believe. Also the EA have improving theres ever since im not so sure about Norwich union updating theres. As some else said speak to the vendor and find out who they are with, as there is a good chance they will insure you.

all the above links start www. but it wont let me put them in

Hailstorm

Did your flood report highlight your property as at risk or not?

The house I bought was in a flood risk area (within 3/4 of a mile from a river and canal next to each other) but the flood report I had done stated that the house itself was not at risk of flooding. Interestingly the report showed a much larger area as at risk than the envronment agency website.

My lender's insurance is organised through Zurich and they didn't have a problem with it. I phoned them up to double check and they said the postcode is in the minimal risk category. The fact that other nearby areas might be at risk is irrelevant to them. It might be worth checking with them.

I know some insurance companies can be funny about flood risks. My parents live in a village on the side of a hill. At the bottom of the hill is a small stream (about 3 foot wide and 6 inches deep). Several years ago it flooded and a couple of properties with adjacent gardens were affected. Come renewal time their home insurance went through the roof (I think that might have been NU) because of the increased flood risk, even though they live at the top of the hill, over half a mile away from the stream and a over a hundred feet above it. They found another insurer who was more realistic about the risk.