A flooded home costs £4,500 to repair, research shows

Flood warnings have been put in place for parts of the country this week – but research suggests many homeowners are oblivious to the risk of severe water damage.

The Met Office says the start of spring this year is colder than normal, with wintry showers and snow likely in many areas. 

And the Environment Agency has also issued new flood warnings this week in parts of Derbyshire, Hampshire and Lincolnshire.

Research from comparison website CompareTheMarket shows that 15 per cent of households have experienced flood damage.

We look at how much it could cost to repair a home after a flood, and whether the damage is likely to be covered on home insurance policies.  

Risk pool: Many home insurers only provide affordable cover for flood damage for houses built before 2009

How much does flood damage cost to repair? 

Estimates for how much it costs to fully repair a home following a flood vary widely. 

According to CompareTheMarket, repairing flood damage costs £4,500 on average. However, waterlogged homes in Wales and London paid more, typically spending around £9,700 and £9,100 respectively.

Other estimates put the cost much higher, however. For example, the Association of British Insurers trade body say it costs an average of £33,600 to repair a flooded home.

The CompareTheMarket findings show that more than a quarter (28 per cent) of homeowners are unsure if their home insurance covers them for flood damage.

Flood cover is normally standard in home insurance deals – but the availability and cost does depend on where you live and how new your home is. 

Households that live near water were quoted, on average, £12 more on buildings and contents insurance in 2022 than those that live further away from water – a decrease from the £22 more quoted in 2021, according to CompareTheMarket.

How do I know if my area might be a flood risk? 

Households can sign up to get flood warning alerts from Gov.uk when heavy rainfall is expected.

But nearly seven in ten (68 per cent) households have never signed up to get these alerts, according to CompareTheMarket. 

People can also check online to see whether they live in areas that are typically at high risk of flooding through the Government’s flood risk postcode checker.

The research also shows that more than one in five (22 per cent) have never looked to see if they live in an area with a high risk of flooding.

CompareTheMarket director Helen Phipps said: ‘The Met Office predicts heavy snow and rain in parts of the UK this month. As this may cause some areas to be at risk of flooding, it is worrying to see over a quarter of homeowners do not have a good understanding of what their buildings and contents insurance cover includes.

‘With a fifth of homeowners also not knowing if they are in a high flood risk area, there is a danger that some households are not sufficiently aware of the risks they are facing.’

Can I get cheap flood insurance for my home?

Flood is a massive risk to insurers, who are wary of getting multiple expensive claims all in one go and clustered in one area.

As such, affordable insurance policies that cover flooding are only possible today due to a Government agreement with insurers called Flood Re, set up in April 2016.

Flood Re effectively insures the insurers providing flood cover. The scheme has a big pot of cash to help insurers pay mass flood claims, which is funded by a levy on insurance premiums and ultimately backed by the Government.

But homes that have been built since 2009 are excluded from the scheme and may still struggle to get affordable flood cover. That is because insurers did not want the existence of Flood Re to encourage homebuilding in flood-prone areas.

Around 2 million homes, or 7 per cent of UK housing, has been built since 2009.

Also in 2009, stricter homebuilding rules came in for councils that were meant to curb new properties in flood plains.

However, around 10 per cent of new homes are in flood-prone areas despite this.

Flood Re also does not cover leasehold developments with four or more flats regardless of when they were constructed. The Flood Re agreement will last until 2039.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk