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Do YOU know how much a flooded home costs to fix – and is it covered by your insurance? With heavy rain forecast, here’s what you need to know
- Water-damaged homes can cost up to £33,000 to put right, research shows
- But many people do not know whether they are covered and how much risk they run
Flood warnings were issued for parts of the country this week, but research shows that many homeowners are unaware of the risk of serious water damage.
The Met Office says the start of spring this year is colder than usual, with wintry showers and snow in many areas.
And the Environment Agency also issued new flood warnings this week in parts of Derbyshire, Hampshire and Lincolnshire.
Research by comparison website CompareTheMarket shows that 15 percent of households have had to deal with flood damage.
We look at how much it could cost to repair a home after a flood and whether the damage is likely to be covered by home insurance.
Pool of risk: Many home insurers only offer affordable flood damage coverage for homes built before 2009
How much does flood damage cost to repair?
Estimates of how much it costs to fully restore a home after a flood vary widely.
According to CompareTheMarket, repairing flood damage costs an average of £4,500. Drenched houses in Wales and London paid more, however, usually at around £9,700 and £9,100 respectively.
However, other estimates put the cost much higher. For example, the Association of British Insurers industry association says it costs an average of £33,600 to repair a flooded home.
CompareTheMarket’s findings show that more than a quarter (28 percent) of homeowners are unsure if their home insurance will cover them for flood damage.
Flood coverage is normally standard in home insurance policies, but availability and cost depend on where you live and how new your home is.
Households living near water received an average of £12 more in home and contents insurance in 2022 than households living further from water – down from the £22 more recorded in 2021, according to CompareTheMarket.
How do I know if my area is a flood risk?
Households can sign up to receive flood alerts from Gov.uk when heavy rainfall is expected.
But according to CompareTheMarket, nearly seven in ten (68 percent) households have never opted in to receive these alerts.
People can also check online if they live in areas that are typically at high risk of flooding by the government postcode checker flood risk.
The survey also shows that more than one in five (22 percent) have never checked to see if they live in an area with a high risk of flooding.
CompareTheMarket director Helen Phipps said: ‘The Met Office is forecasting heavy snow and rainfall in parts of the UK this month. As this puts some areas at risk of flooding, it is worrying to see that more than a quarter of homeowners are unsure what their home contents insurance covers.
‘Now that a fifth of homeowners also do not know whether they are in a high flood risk area, there is a risk that some households are insufficiently aware of the risks they run.’
Can I get cheap flood insurance for my home?
Flooding poses a huge risk to insurers, who are wary of getting multiple expensive claims all at once and clustered in one area.
As such, affordable insurance that covers flooding is only possible today thanks to a government agreement with insurers called Flood Re, created in April 2016.
Flood Re effectively insures the insurers that provide flood cover. The scheme has a large pot of money to help insurers pay mass flood claims, which are funded by a levy on insurance premiums and ultimately backed by the government.
But homes built since 2009 are excluded from the scheme and may still struggle to get affordable flood cover. That’s because insurers didn’t want the existence of Flood Re to encourage housing construction in flood-prone areas.
Around 2 million homes, or 7 per cent of UK homes, have been built since 2009.
Also in 2009, stricter house-building regulations came in for municipalities intended to curb new floodplain properties.
Despite this, about 10 percent of new homes are located in flood-prone areas.
Flood Re also does not cover long lease developments with four or more flats, regardless of when they were built. The Flood Re agreement runs until 2039.