MSE News: 200,000 face flood insurance battle 27 February 2012 at 12:21PM in Insurance & life assurance 9 replies 2.6K views

Former_MSE_Helen

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Up to 200,000 homes could struggle to get insurance against flooding next year, say council leaders ..."

Read the full story:
200,000 face flood insurance battle

InsideInsurance

Ultimately insurers are commercial enterprises and it is fairly understandable that they want to price high risk flood areas with an appropriate premium as not to have to load everyone elses premium to adjust for it.

Most obvious option if the government wants to ensure ongoing coverage being available is for them to create another Pool Re type entity or expand Pool Re from just terrorism on commercial property to include Flood on home.

WestonDave

Affordable insurance premiums and fair insurance premiums are not necessarily the same thing. If you buy a house on a flood plain with a 1 in ten chance of flooding you have to expect to pay a lot to cover flood damage, because insurance works on a probability basis. Roughly speaking if the insurer expects to pay £10,000 putting right damage every 100 years, the flood damage element of the premium will be around £100, but if it expects to pay that every 10 years because the house is near a flooding river, then the element of the premium should be £1000. That isn't being unfair or profiteering - its how the fundamentals of insurance work. Its not the insurers fault that people (permitted by LGA members planning departments!) have increasingly built homes in flood vulnerable areas. If you buy a house on the top of the hill you won't pay much to insure against flooding - but you might pay more for wind damage cover or lightening strike cover.

g4kvi

I can not see the problem with this. If you live in a high crime area you pay more, if you have more claims you pay more etc etc. Do people not look at an area and check a little thing like will or has it flooded?? I now it is not always possible but are not the house builders, mortgage, providers and council partly responsible for allowing construction in high risk areas???

slickric1234

good
its far fairer than making everyone elses rise

unlike the rise in car insurance for women as you cant descriminate on gender

this country has gotten crazy
if you are stupid enough to buy a house in an area thats likely to flood and you want insurance or need it for a mortgage then its only fair you should pay a lot for it

property prices in these flood plains should adjust accordingly

could be some good investment opportunities for a cash buyer who wants to buy/build a house on stilts

smala01

It’s not as clear cut as simply living too close to a river which any sane person could understand a higher risk of flooding.

There are a great number of homes affected by inadequate drainage which is not so easy for a layperson to risk assess.


Smala01

justjohn

Flood is not just a river bursting.

Last year our cost for insurance was approx 450 this year 1100+

Why ??

5 years ago we claimed for water ingress into our air bricks. Due to heavy rain(over 1 day). Only one room was effected(£2000ish claim). After the claim we made every effort to make sure it did not happen again. And there has been no problem in 5 years.

However the underwriter 5 years ago,unknown to us classed this as flood damage.

For some strange reason this year is the first year we have had problems getting insurance renewed.

Dollydolittle

Not sure if this is the right place, new to this forum. Due to the heavy rain my kitchen was flooded last week, I contacted the insurer. The contractors came and took up laminate and their was water under the floor. Drain people came but not a drain problem.
Insurance assesor say they will not pay out claim due to rain as it is due to a change in the water table in the area.
I now have no kitchen floor, and water damage, can I appeal against this I thought I was covered under flood on my buildings insurance.

justjohn

unsure look at policy ...however if you claim, you will be looking at a large increase on premium, because you will be deemed a flood risk.

As for appealing, yes but you will need to prove its covered in the policy and/or the assessor is wrong.

marksteve71

As an informed and smart customer you buy a lot of things, items and consumables on daily basis. Some of these purchases are made for pure joy of buying to satiate our needs wants while others are mandatory buying decisions for the betterment of all concerned. Insurance is one such service we all pay for, but never really understand what it can be worth in hour of need. Insurance is your safety gauge in case of any kind of loss or damage to your body, family, car, property, house, office etc. You should know that anything that has a monetary value to it that can be measured, can be insured. As a customer or owner of assets you take all kinds of insurance covers to protect against risk. Most of us often ignore one small section that covers any damage caused as result of floods. So, while flood insurance quote will only add a minimal amount to your policy premium, the peace of mind you will get would be much more.