Buying A House In A Flood Plain

Problems may arise if you are trying to insure a property you purchased in a flood plain area of some sort. Many people have bought houses and buildings within flood plain areas over the years. Many years have gone by with no problems with floods.

However when the floods arrived in summer 2007, the folks in the UK were caught unaware, mainly as up to that year the UK had not really experienced that amount of flooding. It was estimated that it cost the UK insurers in the area of £3 billion to cover all of the claims including hotels and other related costs. The problem now comes when individuals come to renew their home insurance. It was agreed with the ABI that as long as the government put money into improved flood defences, the companies should still carry on insuring it’s members houses. The trouble comes when renewal time comes, as these companies could increase the premiums and it is hard to shop around.

Wth the figure of two million homes or more in a flood risk area the insurance companies are a little worried. Thats nearly ten percent of the homes in the UK. In the very high risk flooding areas, there are 400,000 houses placed, giving a 1 in 75 opportunity of flooding.

What can be done? If you already live in a flood plain you may have to live with the high premiums. If you sell your home, the new owners of your property would have to take on your insurance company.

If you’re looking to purchase a house now, it would be wise not to buy one in a flood plain area. Having a comprehensive survey conducted will show you if the house lies in a flood plain area. Also some checking can be done yourself by looking at the Environment Agency’s website where you can find if the property lies within the proximity of the flood plain area or not. Looking forward to the future this is probably the best solution.