Flood Excess Insurance: What A High Flood Excess Costs And How To Reduce It

Flood Risk Checker is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not give insurance advice. Figures below are published examples from named providers, not quotes. Speak to an FCA-authorised broker before buying cover.

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What Is A Flood Excess?

A flood excess is the amount you pay towards each flood claim before your home insurance pays the rest. Insurers can set it separately from, and much higher than, the standard excess for other claims.

A flood excess matters in two ways:

1. It reduces every payout. On a claim for £12,000 with a £5,000 flood excess, the insurer pays £7,000.
2. It can stop smaller claims altogether. In one broker's worked example, The client is unable to claim under their primary policy as the costs fall below the value of the flood excess.

The flood excess is shown in the policy schedule. Which? warns that for homes in high-risk areas or with past floods, the quotes you're offered by some insurance firms may exclude flood cover or add a high excess.

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How High Is A Typical Flood Excess In The UK?

No independent body publishes typical flood excesses, and each insurer sets its own. Specialist brokers' published examples run from £5,000 to £20,000, and flood excess products are designed for excesses of up to £100,000.

These are illustrative examples chosen by providers, not a survey. They show the scale of excesses that exist, not what a particular home will be offered.

The only fixed figure linked to flood excesses is Flood Re's £250, and that is not the homeowner's excess (see below).

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Why Has Your Insurer Set Such A High Flood Excess?

An insurer sets a high flood excess to limit how much it pays on a home it expects to claim for flooding. Specialist provider Everywhen lists the usual reasons: A history of previous flood claims; Location in a known flood zone; Proximity to rivers, coastlines or low-lying areas; Changes in local flood defences or climate patterns.

In practice, the excess reflects:

• Your home's flood risk. A Medium or High flood risk band, or a location in Flood Zone 3, signals a higher chance of a claim.
• Claims history. A past flood claim on the property weighs heavily.
• What the insurer knows about protection. Evidence of resilience measures or a flood survey can change the terms, if the insurer accepts it.

The band for each source of flooding at your address is shown by checking your postcode.

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What Is Flood Excess Buy-Back Insurance?

Flood excess buy-back insurance is a separate policy, from a different provider, that repays your main policy's flood excess after a flood. Everywhen explains: "You'll still need to claim through your main insurer first, but this policy steps in to cover the excess once your claim is accepted."

What to check before buying:

1. The limit. It should match your flood excess, not a lower round figure.
2. Claims history rules. One product, Flood Protect, covers properties with no more than one flood claim in the last five years; up to £100,000 sum insured.
3. Whether it pays when the main claim fails. Some policies pay only once the main insurer accepts the claim. One broker's example shows its policy paying a loss below the excess directly, so wording differs between products.
4. The flood definition. It should match your main policy's definition, including groundwater, which Which? notes Some policies don't cover groundwater flooding, while others will only cover it if it has occurred rapidly.

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Is Excess Buy-Back Worth The Cost?

Excess buy-back is worth the cost when the chance of a flood claim in a year is higher than the premium divided by the excess. In Hodgson Insurance's published example, that break-even chance is about 5.6% a year, above the 3.3% at which the Environment Agency's High band starts.

The arithmetic, using the published example (a £5,000 flood excess applied as it's close to a river; Flood Excess Insurance quote £281.93 per annum, covering up to £5,000 worth of flood excess (estimated quote, December 2020)):

The Environment Agency's High band means a chance greater than 3.3% (greater than 1 in 30) a year, so for a home whose yearly chance of a flood claim is between 3.3% and 5.6%, this example is expected to cost more than it repays. Buy-back can still make sense if a £5,000 bill would cause hardship, if your home's actual chance of flooding is higher than its area band, or if the policy also pays losses below the excess. The general rule: divide the premium by the excess, and compare the result with your realistic yearly chance of a flood claim.

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How Do You Get A Flood Excess Reduced?

A flood excess is most often reduced by showing the insurer that flood damage would be smaller or less likely, by changing insurer, or by using an insurer that places the flood risk with Flood Re. None of these is guaranteed to work.

The routes, in order of effort:

1. Ask a specialist broker. The BIBA and ABI Flood Insurance Directory is on 0370 950 1790.
2. Check Flood Re eligibility. For a home built before 1 January 2009, an insurer using Flood Re may offer better terms, though the excess is still its choice.
3. Get a property-level flood risk survey. The ABI advises owners to Check first if your insurer is able to take surveys into account when assessing whether to insure your property.
4. Install resilience measures and keep evidence. Flood doors, flood barriers and air brick covers reduce how much water gets in. What each measure costs and does is in property flood resilience.

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How Does The Flood Re Excess Compare?

The Flood Re excess is not your excess. Flood Re charges a standard £250 excess to the insurer when it reimburses a flood claim, while the flood excess you pay is set by your insurer and can be thousands of pounds higher.

An insurer that uses Flood Re may choose a lower flood excess because its own flood exposure is capped, but nothing requires it to. Always read the flood excess on the policy schedule itself.

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Sources (Verified 17 Sep 2026)