"Best" insurance for flood area (but never flooded in 30 years:))

Nilrem

Hi

My parents just got a renewal from their insurance (Barclays, underwritten by aviva) which is basically a 50% leap in a single year :eek:

Their house is in a flood area, and their lower garden does flood to a depth of a few inches every few year due to a stream (I say lower garden, as it's about 3 foot lower than the "upper" garden, and 4 foot or more lower than the house).
Some of their neighbours did suffer flood damage years ago (during a record flood, that was 18 inches below the point it would bother their house), or subsidence, but they were all much closer to the stream, and built lower*.
IIRC since that record flood the environment agency did some improvements to the area, including from memory reworking the drains and improving the flow etc.

To sum it up.
Their house is in a flood area, but is several foot above the flood risk, and nearby houses that have been affected in the past.


So I'm wondering if there is any advice for getting a better quote.
At the moment it looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time on the phone.

Cheers


*And it doesn't help the idiots at the planning office allowed an entire street of houses to be built below the level the stream reaches every couple of years, on the other side of the stream to them (so when their garden has a puddle, the poor sods in houses on the other side are getting flooded).

Just_Some_Guy

You say the house is "several foot above flood risk" as well as "18 inches". The safety margin for flood is several yards, not 18 inches!

The EA's actions will have made it a bit better but if you suffer the kind of intense downpour that caused Boscastle 2004, Sheffield 2007 etc then they will be overwhelmed and your front room will be under water. Heavy snowfall followed by a quick thaw will do the same.

weejonnie

I would suggest you look at a search engine and then see if you can find an insurance broker that specialises in this form of risk. Try and find a local one so that you can discuss your parents needs face to face. (They might even be able to confirm their 'local knowledge' with an insurer if they know the location. )Assuming that 18" is the height gap between the flood and the house then there shouldn't be too many problems. There may, however be repercussions regarding a subsidence area.

I wouldn't bother with the aggregator-based 'insurers' as they cherry pick