Home insurance Flood query

FuturemrsH

Please advise, I am buying a house that i know the owner has to claim on insurance for a burst pipe during the winter, does this class as a flood when getting home insurance quotes?

McKneff

No, they mean like a flood from a body of water (ie river, lake) etc.

What they have claimed for is irrelevant (unless the floor was as above) , this is your insurance

Shop around, my premiums is just over £200 for semi, 3bed, legal cover, accidental damage, items away from the home,
Im with CISm cooperative insurance society

GPF

I am also looking at purchasing a house that the vendor has made me aware that it had flood damage in 2007.
The house looks like it has had all the ground floors renewed, & looking back it was due to a storm drain being blocked in the floods of 2007. The sewers/drains have since been enlarged & the local council have stated it will not flood again.
How will this affect my insurance costs? iS this STILL classed as a flood plain?

MrsB2100

Well, we were flooded in the storms of 2007 and had to have the walls chipped because of potential 'black' water damange. I have tried to get buildings insurance this week (it's a very long story, but we had to cancel for 6 months due to unemployment and total lack of funds) but no-one will cover because we were flooded! Since the flood, we've had 2 soak-aways put in the back garden, 1 soak away out the front, we've had our driveway paved instead of the solid concrete that was there, and we've also blown the drains in our garden (with a karcher pressure washer) to make sure that theres no blockage, but no-one will cover us now.

I've called the british insurers people (Direct Line actually transferred me to them), but even they couldnt find one for us. So, I've had to go through a broker who has now found us buildings and contents (£20k only) ... for a whopping £600!!!!!!!!!!! This is for a 3 bed, end of terrace.

God knows what we do now!

izzybusy23

MrsB2100 wrote: »

Well, we were flooded in the storms of 2007 and had to have the walls chipped because of potential 'black' water damange. I have tried to get buildings insurance this week (it's a very long story, but we had to cancel for 6 months due to unemployment and total lack of funds) but no-one will cover because we were flooded! Since the flood, we've had 2 soak-aways put in the back garden, 1 soak away out the front, we've had our driveway paved instead of the solid concrete that was there, and we've also blown the drains in our garden (with a karcher pressure washer) to make sure that theres no blockage, but no-one will cover us now.

I've called the british insurers people (Direct Line actually transferred me to them), but even they couldnt find one for us. So, I've had to go through a broker who has now found us buildings and contents (£20k only) ... for a whopping £600!!!!!!!!!!! This is for a 3 bed, end of terrace.

God knows what we do now!

Well I'm glad I came about your thread today; I was looking to rent a house in Gloucester that was flooded twice during 2007 and couldn't find any mainstream insurers to insure the property so that has made my mind up to steer clear from the house and look elsewhere.

What a predicament for you; I only pay £8 a month at the moment and could not jusitfy a £40 rise a month on that.

I hope you find someone that can insure you cheaper than you have been quoted.

izzybusy23

GPF wrote: »

I am also looking at purchasing a house that the vendor has made me aware that it had flood damage in 2007.
The house looks like it has had all the ground floors renewed, & looking back it was due to a storm drain being blocked in the floods of 2007. The sewers/drains have since been enlarged & the local council have stated it will not flood again.
How will this affect my insurance costs? iS this STILL classed as a flood plain?

Yes unfortunately, it is still classed and probably always will be as a flood risk; I could not get any mainstream insurers to quote me on a property I was looking to rent; so I'm steering clear of any property that has once been flooded.

MrsB2100

izzybusy23 wrote: »

Well I'm glad I came about your thread today; I was looking to rent a house in Gloucester that was flooded twice during 2007 and couldn't find any mainstream insurers to insure the property so that has made my mind up to steer clear from the house and look elsewhere.

What a predicament for you; I only pay £8 a month at the moment and could not jusitfy a £40 rise a month on that.

I hope you find someone that can insure you cheaper than you have been quoted.

Yep, it's a complete pain in the backside. I soooooooooo wish this hadnt happened. Now it looks like we'll never be able to sell either because of the flood damage. I dont know how I can get cheaper house insurance now. I just hope that insurance in general relaxes for those of us who were caught out by the storms, otherwise in a couple of years when people realise whats happening theres going to be a massive outcry!

mrswack

MrsB2100 wrote: »

Yep, it's a complete pain in the backside. I soooooooooo wish this hadnt happened. Now it looks like we'll never be able to sell either because of the flood damage. I dont know how I can get cheaper house insurance now. I just hope that insurance in general relaxes for those of us who were caught out by the storms, otherwise in a couple of years when people realise whats happening theres going to be a massive outcry!

We made a £120k quote for the 2007 floods and have paid over £1000 per year for insurance. I have just come across the Co-op insurers who only go back 3 years for claims and have taken out a policy for £330 when no one else would touch us! They know about the claim, and the flood defences that have been put in too, amazing...just hoping this can help some of you. Just make sure you call for a quote and not use the online system.

Good luck!

dacouch

mrswack wrote: »

We made a £120k quote for the 2007 floods and have paid over £1000 per year for insurance. I have just come across the Co-op insurers who only go back 3 years for claims and have taken out a policy for £330 when no one else would touch us! They know about the claim, and the flood defences that have been put in too, amazing...just hoping this can help some of you. Just make sure you call for a quote and not use the online system.

Good luck!

The only problem with these situations is there is the remote chance that the new Insurer will decide they no longer want to offer cover to the properties they have taken on that have previously flooded. The original Insurer will often refuse to offer cover as you have not remained with them.

This leaves you then looking for cover from specialist companies who may or may not offer cover and it can be very expensive.

It is a remote chance but I have seen it happen a couple of times with houses that have had subsidence where a two companies started accepting them and then decided to stop after a few years when the claims started or the reinsurers decided they did not want the risk. It worked out very expensive for them.

mrswack

dacouch wrote: »

The only problem with these situations is there is the remote chance that the new Insurer will decide they no longer want to offer cover to the properties they have taken on that have previously flooded. The original Insurer will often refuse to offer cover as you have not remained with them.

This leaves you then looking for cover from specialist companies who may or may not offer cover and it can be very expensive.

It is a remote chance but I have seen it happen a couple of times with houses that have had subsidence where a two companies started accepting them and then decided to stop after a few years when the claims started or the reinsurers decided they did not want the risk. It worked out very expensive for them.

After being given this advice from my MP on a letter issued from the Houses of Parlment I would hope given this very unlikely event I would go back to them for further advice. I cannot afford to pass up a £700 saving when I have given them full and Frank answers therefore can't see in what circumstances they may revoke cover.

Subsidence is also quite different to flooding given new technology and the use of detailed flood mapping that obviously isn't available for subsidence.

I'd say go for it, Aviva suck and I would never use them again. You know our house has been fitted with complete flood defences, doors etc courtesy of the government grants and Aviva refused to reduce my premium, profiteering I say. Good riddance.

dacouch

It's not a case of revoking your Insurance or you having given any incorrect information, you insure for a year at a time. The Insurer is perfectly within their rights to not offer renewal if they decide.

As I mentioned before, there is a slim possibility that CIS will start receiving flood claims from the new clients they have taken on and decide they don't want the risk no matter what an MP says to them. They are under no obligation to offer renewal whereas the Insurer who dealt with the flood have an agreement to offer cover.

The cases I mentioned before also included customers who were selling their house, the normal situation is they would take over the existing policy or take out a new policy with the insurer. The new insurer had changed their underwriting acceptance eg they no longer wanted properties that had suffered from subsidence. This meant major problems with selling their house with the original buyers dropping out and them having to remarket at a substantial discount.

Subsidence claims and flood claims are similar in a lot of ways, they both tend to be large claims, affected by climate change, vast majority of insurers will not accept properties with previous flood or subsidence, agreements in place for insurer who paid out on a subsidence or flood claim to continue offering cover providing customer keeps renewing and sophisticated mapping systems are available for flood and subsidence areas.

As it happens Aviva have arguably the most sophisticated flood mapping data in the country that they commissioned themselves with some other Insurers buying from them.

My post was to point out the remote possibility of potential problems to you and anyone else who reads your post. There is no guarantee that CIS will be happy to offer you cover for ever, if in the fairly unlikely event they decide they don't want your business or they decide they will not accept new customers with previous flood claims it will cause you immense problems as normally Aviva will not accept you back as a customer and you will find it difficult arranging cover. The problem can often rear it's when you are about to exchange contracts on the sale of your house when you discover the Insurer will not offer cover