News reports of flood warnings and current floods are started to becoming a regular thing. The latest homes to get hit by floods were in Cumbria. With climate change affecting everyone at the moment, the amout of houses at risk of flooding is expected to rise.

Currently the Environment Agency estimates that 1 in 6 houses are at risk of flooding. With this number set to rise within the next 24 months, we will most likely be even more flood reports next year.

One of the biggest problems people living in areas at risk of flooding face is having to get home insurance, especially if it’s insurance for holiday homes. Because it can cost anywhere up to £40,000 to insurers after a flood claim, you need to factor in expensive insurance when buying any property. Fortunately, you can find a number of resources online that tell you if your home is at risk of flooding.

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 more flood informaton.

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 normally find that as soon as your home has been flooded, your insurer will push up premiums or excesses. You could find that you are even refused a policy renew if your house was recently flooded.

With every flood claim costing anywhere between £20,000 and £40,000, you should be prepared for a policy excess 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 not living in the property for most of the year, you have to watch out for exclusions and high excesses.

I guess this wouldn’t be a problem if you were looking for home insurance in Spain.