Don’t Forget Insurance Costs When Buying a New Home

Seeing flood warnings and people recovering from floods on the news is becoming a regularoccurrence. The latest floods this year hit in Cumbria last month. With climate change affecting everyone at the moment, the amout of houses at risk of flooding is expected to rise.

The Environment Agency is currently predicting that 1 out of every 6 homes is at risk of flooding. With this number set to rise within the next 12 months, we should be seeing even more flood warnings.

One of the biggest problems people in areas at risk of flooding are facing is having to buy home insurance, especially if it’s holiday home insurance. Due to insurers knowing a common flood claim will cost up to £40,000, you should factor in insurance price into the cost of buying a home. Fortunately, there are a number of websites that inform you of all the areas that are at risk of flooding in the UK.

If you have a home or are looking to buy a home in England or Wales, you can visit the Environment Agency’s website for detailed flood maps. If you are a Scottish resident, you can visit the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website for flood information.

If you do own a home or are going to buy a home in a flood risk area, getting your insurance won’t be a simple task. You’ll often find that as soon as your house has been flooded, your insurer will push up the premiums. You may find that you are not allowed to renew your policy if you have been flooded.

With flood claims often costing between £20,000 and £40,000, you should be prepared for polciies with excesses of up to £30,000. This is why when you’re looking at property, you should consider any high insurance expenses and add them to the house price. Getting second homes insurance can end up creating even more problems. Due to you leaving the property empty for most of the year, you have to watch for exclusions and high excesses.

I guess this wouldn’t be a problem if you were looking for Spanish house insurance.