House flooded in 2015 - Insurance possible?
Discussion
There is a house we might consider which was flooded in 2015, but since then they have raised the entire house one storey to make a sacrificial above ground 'basement' floor. i.e. everything of value will be upstairs. It is an interesting (and expensive) approach given the 'once in 250 years' event touted by the seller.
It had been under offer but it is now back on the market, I suspect due to insurance difficulties, but don't know. It seems competitively priced given the risk.
It had been under offer but it is now back on the market, I suspect due to insurance difficulties, but don't know. It seems competitively priced given the risk.
I'm sure it will be doable and will be easier if you are mortgage free as you won't have a lender interfering.
But the problem will come at a later date when you want to sell it. It may seem like a bargain but a bit like a category s car, the saving is completely outweighed by the difficulty of offloading it at a later date.
At least with a category s car it is a depreciating asset and you can run it until its practically worthless.
A property is the opposite as you would expect it to appreciate and be easy to sell at the right price but this one won't be.
But the problem will come at a later date when you want to sell it. It may seem like a bargain but a bit like a category s car, the saving is completely outweighed by the difficulty of offloading it at a later date.
At least with a category s car it is a depreciating asset and you can run it until its practically worthless.
A property is the opposite as you would expect it to appreciate and be easy to sell at the right price but this one won't be.
Depends.
If it was a flood caused by an unusual event e.g. a weir collapse or canal bank collapse then maybe as it's probably a rare event.
If it was rainfall and an overflowing river, etc then personally, no. We looked at some very nice houses near the Ouse above Selby. A lot of house for your money, two pallets of sandbags in the garage and electrical sockets mid way up the wall.
You can look at the Environment Agency flood map but it is quite crude apparently.
If it was a flood caused by an unusual event e.g. a weir collapse or canal bank collapse then maybe as it's probably a rare event.
If it was rainfall and an overflowing river, etc then personally, no. We looked at some very nice houses near the Ouse above Selby. A lot of house for your money, two pallets of sandbags in the garage and electrical sockets mid way up the wall.
You can look at the Environment Agency flood map but it is quite crude apparently.
vaud said:
You can look at the Environment Agency flood map but it is quite crude apparently.
Part of our garden is in the 'medium' risk of flooding, the main house isn't a flood risk, no issues getting insurance etc. We've been in the house for coming up to a decade, never had any issues with flooding from brook running at the end of the garden. Last month after an evening of endless rain we had a new pound in the garden.....got really worried for the house, but looking at the Environmental Agency map, where the water stopped was pretty close to the map drawings. 'Medium risk' = Between 1 in 100 (1%) and 1 in 30 (3.3%) of flooding. So mental note made, don't put anything worth of value at the end of the garden!!
One 1:250 would be low or very low risk, (yellow on the map). The yellow bits of the map was totally flooded when we had water in the garden. What interesting is the actual elevation difference doesn't seem to correlate 100% to the flooding risk. Parts of the village that was on higher ground got totally deluged/flooded, whilst all the houses on our side of the village was fine despite sitting at a lower elevation.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 26th February 12:18
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 26th February 12:30
As above it depends on the sort of flooding - our house came pretty close to flooding the winter after we moved in, it was water flowing over the surface of the claggy clay soiled hillside that was overwhelming the existing drains.
Thankfully, being on a hillside with plenty of space to work with, I was able to hire a digger and dig a large ditch to catch any water flowing down and divert it to a nearby much lower stream. Total cost can't have been more than a few hundred quid and a couple of days of my time to completely solve the issue.
If it's on flat ground and the flooding is from a substantial river with no obvious way to mitigate then I'd be much more wary.
Thankfully, being on a hillside with plenty of space to work with, I was able to hire a digger and dig a large ditch to catch any water flowing down and divert it to a nearby much lower stream. Total cost can't have been more than a few hundred quid and a couple of days of my time to completely solve the issue.
If it's on flat ground and the flooding is from a substantial river with no obvious way to mitigate then I'd be much more wary.
Worth checking the environment agency maps again - they were updated a couple of weeks ago for surface water etc. My house has gone from medium to a more correct very low risk.
Can't talk to flooding, but my house had a subsidence claim (3k - caused by a tree in the garden, no underpinning, tree removed so as straightforward as you can get) 7 years ago with the previous owner. Insurance is a) expensive b) a huge pain in the arse each year. A recentish flood is presumably going to be even worse as the risk will get worse year on year with climate change. So go into it with your eyes open - I wouldn't buy another house with a dodgy insurance history.
Can't talk to flooding, but my house had a subsidence claim (3k - caused by a tree in the garden, no underpinning, tree removed so as straightforward as you can get) 7 years ago with the previous owner. Insurance is a) expensive b) a huge pain in the arse each year. A recentish flood is presumably going to be even worse as the risk will get worse year on year with climate change. So go into it with your eyes open - I wouldn't buy another house with a dodgy insurance history.
alscar said:
Wouldn’t be for us but the likes of “Flood Re “make getting Insurance easier
bennno said:
FloodRE scheme backing guarantees insurance and makes it possible at a reasonable rate.....
...as long as the house was built before 2009.https://www.floodre.co.uk/faq_categories/eligibili...
jamies30 said:
alscar said:
Wouldn’t be for us but the likes of “Flood Re “make getting Insurance easier
bennno said:
FloodRE scheme backing guarantees insurance and makes it possible at a reasonable rate.....
...as long as the house was built before 2009.https://www.floodre.co.uk/faq_categories/eligibili...
Short answer to your Q
Yes you can
Long winded musings with no additional value to you or indeed anyone else provided below. You’re welcome.
Our town was flooded in 2015. Was walking past the river today and it still amazes me just how much water there was to get over the flood defences built just a few years earlier. I actually commented to that effect to the Mrs (again) this afternoon. She rolled her eyes (again). There are currently a few houses for sale near us that got affected including a couple that have done as you say with the electrics etc all lifted. Some had to or they’d never ever sell them. . As mentioned above these here are most likely insured with help of the gov backed scheme as it was talk of the town shortly after they all got wet. There
was/is even a FB group that is still active linking the ‘flooded community members’. I’m sure the agent/vendor would be happy to let you know what theyre are doing now for insurance anyway given it’s a key issue.
The ones that have flooded near us are slower slow to sell on for sure, even with home mitigations, but everything has its price and some have fantastic views and river amenity for the rest of the time they’re not flooded so as such they sell fastest. The agents around here tend to market them at similar price to those that weren’t flooded but I’m sure that’s not the price folk are actually paying. Some towns / areas have more active preventative flood prevention works than others as a result of the 2015 floods (river dredging etc) and most Environment Agency depts wrote a detailed after action reviews which can be found online - so that might give you a clue as to on-going risk and any larger scale remedial works proposed. The flood maps online are okay but it’s worth seeking these out as they have more detail. Personally (and as someone with tertiary qualifications in water stuff , albeit it in the dim and distant past) I would always go into such a purchase with the view I’m comfortable with the fact it’s going to happen again in my tenure (maybe more than once) and on Xmas day of course…. so if you’re of nervous disposition or trying to make money in the housing ladder it can be a bit stressful looking outside every time it’s pouring with rain. Even if it’s now ‘just’ an above ground basement it’s a lot of de-muddying, de-sewer spewing work and rehabilitation to do. I know, I’ve helped someone who was flooded out of their house. Be sure that you’re prepared to do that yourself in the worst case as getting a contractor around here after the floods took some folk a years waiting. That all said if the house was the **right** price, the amenity was truly worth it, and as long as the family could get to safety if it flooded fast (oh and if I was buying to live in it rather than flip it and I would have no need of a fire sale for a quick exit if it flooded again) then I’d be happy to consider it. In fact there’s one very nice place in another town I’ve half got my eye on…
Yes you can
Long winded musings with no additional value to you or indeed anyone else provided below. You’re welcome.
Our town was flooded in 2015. Was walking past the river today and it still amazes me just how much water there was to get over the flood defences built just a few years earlier. I actually commented to that effect to the Mrs (again) this afternoon. She rolled her eyes (again). There are currently a few houses for sale near us that got affected including a couple that have done as you say with the electrics etc all lifted. Some had to or they’d never ever sell them. . As mentioned above these here are most likely insured with help of the gov backed scheme as it was talk of the town shortly after they all got wet. There
was/is even a FB group that is still active linking the ‘flooded community members’. I’m sure the agent/vendor would be happy to let you know what theyre are doing now for insurance anyway given it’s a key issue.
The ones that have flooded near us are slower slow to sell on for sure, even with home mitigations, but everything has its price and some have fantastic views and river amenity for the rest of the time they’re not flooded so as such they sell fastest. The agents around here tend to market them at similar price to those that weren’t flooded but I’m sure that’s not the price folk are actually paying. Some towns / areas have more active preventative flood prevention works than others as a result of the 2015 floods (river dredging etc) and most Environment Agency depts wrote a detailed after action reviews which can be found online - so that might give you a clue as to on-going risk and any larger scale remedial works proposed. The flood maps online are okay but it’s worth seeking these out as they have more detail. Personally (and as someone with tertiary qualifications in water stuff , albeit it in the dim and distant past) I would always go into such a purchase with the view I’m comfortable with the fact it’s going to happen again in my tenure (maybe more than once) and on Xmas day of course…. so if you’re of nervous disposition or trying to make money in the housing ladder it can be a bit stressful looking outside every time it’s pouring with rain. Even if it’s now ‘just’ an above ground basement it’s a lot of de-muddying, de-sewer spewing work and rehabilitation to do. I know, I’ve helped someone who was flooded out of their house. Be sure that you’re prepared to do that yourself in the worst case as getting a contractor around here after the floods took some folk a years waiting. That all said if the house was the **right** price, the amenity was truly worth it, and as long as the family could get to safety if it flooded fast (oh and if I was buying to live in it rather than flip it and I would have no need of a fire sale for a quick exit if it flooded again) then I’d be happy to consider it. In fact there’s one very nice place in another town I’ve half got my eye on…
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