How does the risk of flooding affect my Home Insurance?
What is the likelihood of your house flooding?
Is your home at risk of flooding?
Flood risk areas in the UK
There are two million homes which are situated within a flood risk area in the UK. To find out if you live in one of these homes, you can contact the Environment Agency on-line.
Home insurance for homes in a flood risk area
It is extremely important to ensure your home insurance cover i.e. your buildings insurance and/or contents insurance is adequate especially if your home is in a flood risk area.
Building Insurance
The effects of flooding can take months to be corrected. The insurer or loss adjuster dealing with a flood insurance claim will appoint a drying company to assess the damage. Homes are normally dried slowly to reduce the risk of dry rot - it can take up to 3 - 4 months to dry thoroughly. This and any necessary decoration to your home will be covered by your buildings insurance.
Contents Insurance
Your carpets, furniture and electrical items will be covered by your contents insurance. Many people don't think this is needed and end up paying for thousands of pounds worth of damage themselves so it is vital to have contents insurance cover if there are valuable items within your home.
Home Insurance Cover
Home insurance cover from Cover Direct is competitively priced.
Find out more about home insurance cover and cheap contents insurance from Cover Direct now.
Compare home insurance cover with some of the leading home insurance companies in the UK.
Flood damage
We hope this never happens but in the event that your home is affected by flood damage you should follow the guidelines below:
- Remember to contact your insurer immediately
- Do not touch electrical items
- Follow advise given by the Environment Agency or your local council
- Do not attempt to dry items out with extreme levels of heat as this can sometimes cause further damage
- When recovering important paperwork, photographs etc., make sure that you remove any excess water and let these items dry naturally
- Fridges and Freezers need to be cleared out as soon as possible and the contents disposed of. If you have contents insurance cover make a note of these items for your home insurance contents claim
- Store all affected furniture in a dry place
- Clear out any mud that may have collected in airbricks, this will help with the ventilation under the floorboards and may prevent rot
- Remove all affected rubber-backed carpets; if possible leave them outside as these will need to be replaced. IMPORTANT - do not lift Hessian-backed carpets as these may shrink if lifted
- IMPORTANT - be careful when the flood water has receded as it may be contaminated - look out for signs which might indicate this e.g. smell, colour.
Water damage
Even if you are not directly in a flood risk area this does not mean that you will not be affected by a flood, or water damage as there are other ways in which your home could be flooded:
Water damage from burst pipes
Example No 1: The temperature drops to 10 below zero, causing your water pipes to freeze and burst, your floor is now covered in 6 inches of water. Are you covered?
Yes, you are covered for water damage from burst pipes, provided your home is not unoccupied and without heat. For full details of policy cover, terms, conditions and exclusions, please refer to your insurer's policy documents.
Water damage in the kitchen
Example No 2: Your washing machine overflows, flooding your kitchen area. Is this covered?
Yes this is covered, depending on the reason why the washing machine overflowed, again for full details of home insurance cover, terms, conditions and exclusions, please refer to your insurer's policy documents.
For further details on flooding and how this effects you visit the Environmental Agency website.
Instant Home Insurance
For instant home insurance or to speak to one of our home insurance advisors please contact Cover Direct and we shall be happy to answer any questions you have about flooding or our home insurance cover.