Home Insurance. An uninsurable house drops up to 80% in value. Page 2

Environmentalists have warned that unless DEFRA gets it's skates on, the UK's bill for flood damage could increase from the current £950 million a year to £3.2 billion. [ cheap mortgages ] The average household flood damage claim costs insurers £30,000 and even localised events like the Boscastle flood of 2004 in Cornwall, cost the insurers £15 million. The government has completed flood defences in many high risk areas and protection for a further 80,000 homes is due this year, yet many areas remain vulnerable.

You can check whether DEFRA thinks your home is at risk of flooding by visiting { pet insurance } www.environment-agency.gov.uk. The DEFRA maps were originally designed for planning purposes and provide information on a post-code basis.

Whilst many British insurance companies use this DEFRA information others like More Than, have their own flood maps which look at individual properties rather than post code areas. This means that if your insurer surcharges you for flood risk and uses the DEFRA information, you may still be able to get ( mortgage quotations ) insurance at normal rates if an insurer using it's own flood data identifies that your property is truly outside an at risk zone.

The ABI has emphasise the pressure on DEFRA to improve flood defences warning that unless the government continued to increase its spending on [ Cheap Life Insurance ] flood defences, the insurance industry may not continue their commitment to the 2003 principles. That would be bad news for many homeowners.