So I have company A telling that because my new house (I exchange on Friday) is within 100m of a watercourse my Building & Contents premiums will be inflated (£55 a month).

However after using Confused.com and phoning LV, they say my new address doesn’t flag as a flood risk, and it would if it was a risk – therefore £32 a month.

The watercourse in questions is a river run off running alongside the local park, the other side of some house that border the park, at the end of our street. The local authority flood risk documents state a “0.1 to 0.5% chance of 0.1m flooding risk in any given year”

Who do I believe? LV’s document say the building is covered by flooding so how can I be sure….?

Write to LV explainign the distance to the ‘river’ and if they accept your premium then they’ve accepted it and covered you woudl be my opinion.

” LV’s document say the building is covered by flooding so how can I be sure….?” did you mean to say that? If LV’s policy says that the property is covered for flooding I don’t see how you can get anymore of a definitive statement. Is there any corollary to the statement, eg “refer to Section X.XX” where there may lurk a get out clause about distance from water courses etc.

There isn’t really any right or wrong. Policies vary company by company which will reflect their assessment of risks involved.

If you’ve given LV all the information relevant to the risk then there’s nothing to challenge your cover.

what came up in your environmental search on house?

your solicitors should have checked this at some point for you?

tracknicko – Member
what came up in your environmental search on house?

your solicitors should have checked this at some point for you?

I’ve only had the lenders search as other than this nothing came up – but it says words to the effect of “The search reveals the property is close (within 400m) to a river, flood plain or pluvial flooding. This could affect you insureance premiums so we advise you contact your policy providers”

With the stats mentioned above I don’t see why it’d be worth invoking another survey at this time…. I don’t think…?

Perhaps I should phone a couple of the other companies up and get thier view on the same…

ring council. ask what flood risk is for your area. go see risk assessment plans in person if they exist.

we had some complete show stoppers turn up in terms of local surey things, ‘experts’ wanting anywhere from £500 to £2000 to resolve or start to resolve (issues were about landfill and ground contamination in our case).

popped down to the council offices, photocopied some risk assessments, sent them round to sols and insurers, problem went away, instantly.

total cost = 0.

the last thing you want is to accept to the insurance co that you are at risk for something if you are not. you’ll risk monster premiums in the future…

tracknicko – Member
ring council. ask what flood risk is for your area. go see risk assessment plans in person if they exist.

we had some complete show stoppers turn up in terms of local surey things, ‘experts’ wanting anywhere from £500 to £2000 to resolve or start to resolve (issues were about landfill and ground contamination in our case).

popped down to the council offices, photocopied some risk assessments, sent them round to sols and insurers, problem went away, instantly.

total cost = 0.

the last thing you want is to accept to the insurance co that you are at risk for something if you are not. you’ll risk monster premiums in the future…

Thats where I got the stats above from – so 0.1% to 0.5% risk of a 10cm flood, and there’s houses between us and the river PLUS the river has a flat local park on the other side with no hedgerows etc as barriers to flood into first. On top of that there has never been a flood incident since the LA started recording.

I reckon I’m safe unless there’s a Tsunami coming 80 miles inland anytime soon….

What’s actually the question here?

Are you asking “will I be insured” or “should I back out on the house purchase due to flood risks”?

Perhaps I should phone a couple of the other companies up and get thier view on the same…

Why?

I don’t get it

I guess I’m asking should I accept the cheaper quotes, and hope never to get flooded. Or is the one insurer asking the question a massive red flag I should take heed of?

No chance of not buying the house if my interpretation of the numbers above being “not much risk” feels right to the STW massive….

Well, unless I’m misunderstanding you, the cheaper insurance covers you for flood. So I’m not sure why you seem so insistent to make them take more money off you. You can send me the £23 a month difference if you need rid of it that badly. (-:

LV’s document say the building is covered by flooding so how can I be sure….?

Have you read the policy? Are there any exceptions which would render it invalid?