Flood Insurance In The UK: How To Get Cover On A High Flood Risk Home
Flood cover in the UK is part of a standard buildings and contents policy, not a separate product. A high flood risk can raise the premium and the excess, and homes built before 2009 can often get affordable cover through insurers that use Flood Re.
Important: floodriskchecker.co.uk is an independent information service and is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This website does not provide financial, insurance or legal advice. Quotes and policies are provided by independent, FCA-authorised insurers and brokers.
1. Was the home built before 1 January 2009? Yes · No · Not sure 2. Has the home flooded before, or had a flood claim? Yes · No 3. Has an insurer refused cover or quoted a price you cannot pay? Yes · No
| Outcome | When it applies | Route |
|---|---|---|
| A. Shop around with standard insurers | Not refused, any build date | Get quotes directly from insurers as well as comparison sites, and state the flood history accurately |
| B. A Flood Re specialist | Built before 2009, refused or quoted high | Use an insurer or broker that places policies through Flood Re; the BIBA and ABI Flood Insurance Directory lists Flood Re specialists |
| C. A non-Flood Re specialist | Built in 2009 or later, or otherwise outside Flood Re | A specialist broker for homes the scheme does not cover, listed separately in the same directory |
| D. No standard route found | Refused by specialists too | Call the directory team on 0370 950 1790, contact the National Flood Forum on 01299 403 055, and consider a property-level flood risk survey and resilience measures before reapplying |
How Does Flood Risk Change The Cost Of Home Insurance?
Flood risk changes the cost of home insurance because insurers price the chance of a flood claim into the premium and may set a higher flood excess. Each insurer uses its own underwriting method, so two insurers can quote very different prices for the same home.
The Environment Agency states that its national flood risk assessment was not developed for setting premiums: NaFRA was not developed or tested for insurance underwriting or setting insurance premiums. Insurers may combine that data with a property's characteristics, its claims history, catastrophe modelling and repair costs. A High flood risk band on this site is therefore a reason to expect questions and higher quotes, not a prediction of a particular price.
Flood Re limits the flood element of the price for eligible homes. When an insurer passes a policy's flood risk to Flood Re, it pays Flood Re a fixed premium set by Council Tax band, whatever the level of flood risk. For the scheme year 2026/27, those premiums charged to insurers are shown below for England and Scotland (bands A to H) and Northern Ireland (bands 1 to 8).
| Council Tax band | A / 1 | B / 2 | C / 3 | D / 4 | E / 5 | F / 6 | G / 7 | H / 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buildings | £147 | £147 | £175 | £198 | £235 | £346 | £447 | £1,077 |
| Contents | £58 | £58 | £77 | £86 | £117 | £195 | £273 | £536 |
| Combined | £205 | £205 | £252 | £284 | £352 | £541 | £720 | £1,613 |
These are the net reinsurance premiums Flood Re charges insurers from 1 April 2026, not the price a homeowner pays. The insurer adds its own charges for the rest of the policy. Wales has nine Council Tax bands; Flood Re's own table shows how its Welsh bands map to these figures.
Which Route Applies To You?
Three questions. The answer is one of four routes, and none of them is a recommendation to buy anything from this site — it does not sell insurance or receive a fee for a policy. No email address or personal detail is collected.
The three questions and all four routes, in full
- Was the home built before 1 January 2009? Yes · No · Not sure
- Has the home flooded before, or had a flood claim? Yes · No
- Has an insurer refused cover, or quoted a price you cannot pay? Yes · No
This site is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and gives no advice. It explains the market and links to regulated intermediaries.
What Can You Do If You Cannot Get Home Insurance Because Of Flood Risk?
A refusal from one insurer does not mean a home cannot be insured. It means looking beyond standard insurers to specialist insurers and brokers, and the route depends on when the home was built.
The steps to take are:
- Go beyond comparison sites. The Association of British Insurers advises that Price comparison websites are not always the best place to buy flood insurance, and suggests contacting insurers directly or using a broker.
- Use the BIBA and ABI Flood Insurance Directory. It lists vetted specialist providers, split into Flood Re specialists for homes built before 2009 and non-Flood Re specialists for other homes. The directory team is on 0370 950 1790.
- Check Flood Re eligibility. A home built before 1 January 2009 that meets the scheme's other conditions can be insured through an insurer that uses Flood Re.
- Get evidence that lowers the risk. A property-level flood risk survey and flood resistance measures can change an insurer's view; the ABI advises owners to Check first if your insurer is able to take surveys into account when assessing whether to insure your property.
- Ask for help. The National Flood Forum, a charity that supports people at risk of flooding, runs a helpline on 01299 403 055.
A refusal from standard insurers is the situation the specialist market and the directory exist for.
What Are The Options For A High Flood Risk Home?
A high flood risk home can be insured through a standard insurer, an insurer that places the flood risk with Flood Re, or a specialist insurer outside Flood Re. Which option applies depends mainly on the build date and how the home is used.
The three options are compared below.
| Option | Who it suits | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Standard insurer | Homes where an insurer will still quote | The insurer carries the flood risk itself and sets the price and excess |
| Insurer using Flood Re | Homes built before 2009 that meet all eight Flood Re conditions | In Flood Re's description, your insurer can choose to pass the flood risk element of your policy to Flood Re for a fixed price; if you make a valid claim, your insurer pays it and Flood Re later reimburses the insurer |
| Specialist outside Flood Re | Homes built in or after 2009, blocks of more than three flats, company-owned homes and other excluded properties | A specialist insurer or broker prices the flood risk directly |
Homes built in or after 2009 are outside Flood Re by design, so a newer home that standard insurers will not cover needs a specialist outside the scheme. Flood Re is due to end in 2039, which matters for anyone relying on it over the length of a mortgage.
Can You Insure A House That Has Flooded Before?
A house that has flooded before can be insured. Insurers take a home's claims history into account, but a past flood does not remove the options, and it does not by itself make a home ineligible for Flood Re.
None of Flood Re's eight eligibility conditions concerns whether a home has flooded; they cover who holds the policy, how the home is used, its Council Tax band, the number of units, and whether it was built before 1 January 2009. A previously flooded home built before that date can therefore still be placed through Flood Re.
Past flooding must be disclosed accurately. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, It is the duty of the consumer to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer. The consequences of getting it wrong are set out in the same Act: where a misrepresentation is deliberate or reckless, the insurer may avoid the contract and refuse all claims, and need not return any of the premiums paid. Careless mistakes lead to proportionate remedies that can still reduce a claim.
What Is Flood Re And Does It Apply To You?
Flood Re is a reinsurance scheme that lets insurers offer flood cover on high flood risk homes at a fixed cost to the insurer. Every insurer that offers home insurance in the UK must pay into the Flood Re Scheme, and its levy raises £160m every year.
Flood Re applies to a home only if it meets all eight conditions: the policy is held by an individual; the policyholder or their family lives there, or it is unoccupied; it has a domestic Council Tax band; it is used for private residential purposes; it is a single home or a building of two or three homes; it is insured individually; it was built before 1 January 2009; and it is in the UK, excluding the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
A homeowner cannot buy a policy from Flood Re directly. The scheme works behind an ordinary home insurance policy, through an insurer that chooses to use it. The full eligibility rules, the excluded property types and an eligibility checker are on Flood Re.
How High Is A Typical Flood Excess?
Flood excesses are set by each insurer and vary widely, so no reliable typical figure is published. Flood Re does not set the excess a homeowner pays: in its own words, "Prices, excesses and terms for policies are set by insurers and not Flood Re."
The £250 figure often linked to Flood Re is the standard excess Flood Re applies to the insurer's reinsurance claim, not a cap on the homeowner's excess. Some insurance websites describe Flood Re cover as coming with "an excess of only £250"; the homeowner's own policy wording is what decides the excess actually paid.
A very high flood excess leaves much of the cost of a flood with the homeowner. What a high excess means, and whether excess buy-back cover is worth its cost, is explained in flood excess insurance.
What Does Flood Insurance Actually Cover?
Flood insurance in the UK is the flood cover inside a buildings or contents policy. Buildings insurance covers the structure and permanent fittings; contents insurance covers belongings. The Association of British Insurers lists flood among the standard perils: Home insurance covers you against damage or loss to your property caused by a variety of perils such as fire, storm, flood, subsidence, burst pipes and water damage.
The two parts of cover are set out below.
| Cover | What it pays for after a flood |
|---|---|
| Buildings | Repairs to walls, floors, plaster, kitchens, bathrooms and other permanent fixtures |
| Contents | Belongings such as furniture, electrical items and clothing |
Two limits catch owners out. Cover can be restricted when a home is left empty: the ABI notes Restricted cover when your home is empty for a long period, often 30 or 60 days. And each policy defines flood in its own wording, which decides what a particular claim covers. After a flood, some insurers also pay for resilient repairs: Flood Re's Build Back Better offers householders, if they are covered by their household insurance policy, the chance to install PFR measures up to the value of £10,000 when repairing their properties after a flood.
How Do You Reduce A Flood Insurance Premium?
A flood insurance premium is reduced by showing an insurer that a flood would cause less damage or be less likely, and by reaching the right part of the market. Resilience measures, survey evidence and the right broker all count.
The steps that can lower a premium are:
- Install flood resistance and resilience measures, such as flood doors, air brick covers and raised electrical sockets, which the ABI lists as flood measures.
- Commission a property-level flood risk survey, after checking the insurer will take it into account.
- Use a specialist broker through the BIBA and ABI Flood Insurance Directory rather than relying on comparison sites.
- Rebuild resiliently after a claim, using Build Back Better funding where the insurer offers it.
Which measures work best for each type of flooding, and what each costs, is set out in property flood resilience. How the band for a home is decided is explained in Medium flood risk, and why a defended home can be banded Low in a high planning zone is covered in why a Flood Zone 3 house can be Low risk. Buyers weighing up insurance before exchange can use buying a house in a flood risk area.
Sources (Verified 16 Sep 2026)
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| NaFRA not developed for insurance underwriting; insurers' own methods | Environment Agency, National assessment 2024 |
| 2026/27 premiums charged to insurers; £250 excess on ceded claims | Flood Re, How are the premiums set |
| Levy £160m; how the scheme works; insurers set prices, excesses and terms; all insurers pay in | Flood Re, How Flood Re works |
| Eight eligibility conditions; exclusions | Flood Re, Eligibility |
| End date 2039 | Flood Re, 10-year reform package (1 Jul 2026) |
| Build Back Better up to £10,000 | Flood Re, Brokers embrace Build Back Better |
| Comparison sites; surveys; directory; measures | ABI, Accessing flood insurance |
| Flood as a standard peril; empty-home restrictions | ABI, Home insurance |
| Directory phone; Flood Re and non-Flood Re specialists | BIBA, Flood insurance |
| Duty to take reasonable care not to misrepresent; remedies for misrepresentation | Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, s2 and Schedule 1 |
| National Flood Forum helpline | National Flood Forum |
| "An excess of only £250" wording on insurer sites | Highworth Insurance, flood risk property (retrieved 16 Sep 2026) |