Searches came back with flood risk, need advice

Wobblydeb

My old house was 20 metres from a river, and looked dubious on the Environment Agency flood maps.

However it was also 15 metres ABOVE the river, and the river had never reached the houses, even at times when other local areas were flooding. Some insurers wanted to pass it to underwriters, at which point I always rang off (never wanted insurance refused). Direct Line were always happy to insure, and at a reasonable cost per month.

Tancred

For God's sake just do a search on Moneysupermarket! There are lots of insurers who will cover you even if you are within 400 metres of water.

DATMAN_2

I assume that this information was contained on a environmental search.

If you are that worried ask your solicitor to do a flood search.

on average 1 flood in 75 years are good odds

If no flooding last year I would not be too concerned

Ask seller if any flooding in last 5 years or any insurance claim for flooding made in this time period.

steppevos

DATMAN wrote: »

on average 1 flood in 75 years are good odds

I beg to differ. That means that if you live in the house for 25 years. That you have a chance of 24% that the house get flooded once in that period, 4%) that the house gets flooded twice and 0.4% three times (which is still a lot more than winning the lottery) (interestingly enough in a period of 75 years you still have a chance of 36% that there will be no flooding at all (all assuming that this is an exact science which it isn't!).
This is not only about being insured but also living through it, loosing treasured possessions and not being able to use the house for a longer period. As long that is acceptable to the OP then fine, go ahead.

If no flooding last year I would not be too concerned

This is not true. Rain can be very localized, especially extreme high rain, so placed that stayed dry last year, may have flooded several times in the years before, or may have not flooded for a long time, but will next year, while the rest of the country stays dry. Flooding can have many different causes and can be very localised as Davesnave has stated before.
I wish you all the best and much wisdom, theymademedoit.

Tancred

steppevos wrote: »

I beg to differ. That means that if you live in the house for 25 years. That you have a chance of 24% that the house get flooded once in that period, 4%) that the house gets flooded twice and 0.4% three times (which is still a lot more than winning the lottery) (interestingly enough in a period of 75 years you still have a chance of 36% that there will be no flooding at all (all assuming that this is an exact science which it isn't!).
This is not only about being insured but also living through it, loosing treasured possessions and not being able to use the house for a longer period. As long that is acceptable to the OP then fine, go ahead.
This is not true. Rain can be very localised, especially extreme high rain, so placed that stayed dry last year, may have flooded several times in the years before. Flooding can have many different causes and can be very localised as Davesnave has stated before.
I wish you all the best and much wisdom, theymademedoit.

You want a completely zero risk situation - fair enough, and that property would not be for you, but you could missing out on a nice property just because of personal fears. The mathematical odds are meaningless - you would need to research the area and see when there was any flooding in the past (if any). If the property hasn't flooded in the last 50 years then I would say the risks are very minimal.

steppevos

Tancred wrote: »

You want a completely zero risk situation - fair enough, and that property would not be for you, but you could missing out on a nice property just because of personal fears.

No, I personally wouldn't need zero risk, and have considered buying a house that had a flood risk (but it went for the asking price, which we weren't prepared to pay).

The mathematical odds are meaningless - you would need to research the area and see when there was any flooding in the past (if any). If the property hasn't flooded in the last 50 years then I would say the risks are very minimal.

The mathematical odds are not meaningless to me.When still working in Holland as an hydrologist I did lots of calculations to determine how we had to compensate for increases in hard surfaces and climate change to keep risks acceptable (some urban areas have a 1 in 10,000 years risk as acceptable for see or river flooding, where agricultural use may have a once a year or 1 in 10 year risk of flooding).
Also what didn't happen in the last 50 years, can be completely meaningless because of changes taking place (like the disclaimer for investments - results from the past are no guarantee for the future).

I just want to help the OP to go into this sale with eyes wide open.:)

theymademedoit

Thanks for the replies; I really need to work some things out fast.
I am feeling pretty stressed out now.
One insurer who agreed yesterday over the phone that it would be ok has now called to say they can’t cover it, this time they said due to storm (whatever that means).
It’s easy enough someone saying just get quotes on Moneysupermarket and take one of them (which I have done) but I am concerned that despite them saying I will be covered for flood, that they may turn around after the exchange and say then cant, and by then I will have agreed the sale and paid the deposit.
Also there is the hassle I may have in the future insuring it and also selling it.
I love the area and the house and really don’t want to lose on the £800+ we have spent on fees.

theymademedoit

Quick update, covered with Nationwide and we have just recvd the contracts to exchange!
With Nationwide I said there was a small brook and would that be an issue, he asked if been flooded in the last 10 years and if the house looked like it may flood in the next 2 days, I said no and he said it was fine. He was the underwriter too!

Tancred

theymademedoit wrote: »

Quick update, covered with Nationwide and we have just recvd the contracts to exchange!
With Nationwide I said there was a small brook and would that be an issue, he asked if been flooded in the last 10 years and if the house looked like it may flood in the next 2 days, I said no and he said it was fine. He was the underwriter too!

Where did you source the Nationwide quote from? Fresh Insurance will cover flood risk areas - so that's an alternative.

carefullycautious

This still does not really answer the question of whether you will sell easily or not in the future. Only time will tell

Wish you every happiness in your new home