Insurance for Properties after a flood claim

A flood can cause catastrophic damage to a property, causing many thousands of euro worth of damage and can it can often take many months to repair the property. As well as physical damage, a flood event on your house or business can cause psychological trauma to those effected, especially in the aftermath, as you realise that this may happen again in the future. So, if you have been unlucky enough to be affected by a flood claim or are in a flood area, how will insurance companies view this?

• If you have had a flood claim, it is unlikely your existing insurer will offer flood cover again (even if you can prove that their has been flood defenses put in place, there is currently no onus on an insurer to offer flood cover)
• It is unlikely that any new insurer will offer flood cover (or possible any other cover) after a flood.
• Your existing insurer may offer terms, but they may increase your premium, exclude cover and/or increase your policy excess.
• If you have not had a flood claim, but your insurer has deemed you to be in a flood area, they may still exclude all cover on your property (and as well as having to deal with having no flood cover, you will have to disclose to any new insurer that you have been refused renewal)

Are there any insurance options for those that have had a flood claim?

Whilst it can be very difficult to obtain flood cover after a flood claim, we have helped people in the following area’s in recent years:

• We have helped clients that have been refused cover, obtain a ‘normal’ policy – excluding flood cover, but with comprehensive cover elsewhere and a standard premium.
• We have helped obtain flood cover for those that have been deemed to be in a flood area, but have not had any claims.
• We have helped an existing client, (that had been refused flood cover at renewal), to make a case to the insurer that they were not a flood risk and so keep her flood cover.

Other than contacting non standard insurance for a quotation, is there anything else I can do to get flood cover?

In the UK, the British government is adopting a partnership approach with insurer’s to adequately cover those that are in flood areas. As of yet, we have yet to see this approach in Ireland. As well as visiting our property page, the below are some area’s that you can work on – to make your home more insurable for flood cover:

• Get involved (or help set up) a committee in your area to look at what is being done by the local council to protect homes and business from the effects of flooding.
• Lobby local and national politician’s to make a commitment to start talking to insurers and local council’s about flood defence systems and insurance cover partnerships.
• Ensure your own property is as well protected as possible against flood damage. Do you have a flood barrier in place? Are sand bags readily available.

If you have had an issue with flood insurance cover, don’t waste your time with other insurers. Contact the experts on 0818919699 or visit our home insurance page for further details.

John Power Insurances Ltd. t/a Nonstandard.ie is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.