A recent report in the Daily Mail highlights an issue faced by many property owners in the UK: insurers refusing to provide home insurance cover due to flood risk, based on the postcode of the property.

The Daily Mail’s report focuses on the experience of Eric Brisley, a resident of Salcombe in Devon, who owns a property situated 250ft above sea level (as indicated in the picture above, ©Mark Passmore/Apex). Mr. Brisley has been refused cover by Lloyds Bank Insurance who claim that all houses in his area are at risk of flooding. As such, the insurer has applied a blanket ban on providing cover to all properties sharing his postcode.

Mr. Brisley’s case highlights concerns about the type of flood data used by insurance companies and the significant limitations in assessing flood risk at postcode rather than at building level. Tools such as our own UKFloodMap™ are designed to equip insurers with a much better understanding of the risk to individual properties. With the issue raised by the BBC’s Watchdog last year and numerous reports similar to Mr Brisley’s appearing in the press, pressure is starting to build on the insurance industry to adopt higher quality flood data as part of their assessment processes.

Refused home insurance on flood risk grounds?

Have you experienced home insurance refusal due to flood risk? If you are having difficulty obtaining insurance cover, Ambiental offer an insurance-focused FRA (Flood Risk Assessment) service which is designed to help homeowners secure flood cover at a reasonable cost.

For further information visit our Insurance FRA page here. Or call our team