So tell me about river frontage and insurance

[BMWChris]

I did a search but couldn't find an answer. Please direct me if I've missed it.

Looking at a house with a back garden that goes down to fairly big (70m wide?) river and private jetty - something I'd love.

The back garden is about 1m above the river at its highest (I am told) and the garden is about 30m long. I've lived fairly close to the area for over ten years and there hasn't been a flood in that time (though there has else where fairly close).

how do we find out about the likelyhood of flooding?

what impact would simply being close to a river have on insurance?

anything else I should think about?

thanks

Chris

[Engineer1]

Likely hood of flooding and the insurance companies view of the likely hood can be two different things, my Aunt and Uncle live by the Trent their back garden is about 3m above the river with a field opposite that is about 2m above the river, they are still classed as a flood risk by some insurers despite the fact that the field has to flood first and any flood that bad would mean a lot of Stoke on Trent under water.

So in summary it may limit your choices with insurers given a lot will work on maps and postcodes rather than actual risk.

[mickk]

When we were looking at moving one of the houses was close to water.

We looked here: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisur...

[randlemarcus]

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisur...

[TooLateForAName]

The environment agency have maps showing flood risk - find them on their web site.

I'd also check out flood areas on the same river system and do some serious asking about the flood defences in the area and what flood defences are planed. You could find yourself under water because of works done to protect an urban area downstream.

[dustybottoms]

Chris,

I live in a house next to a river and the difficulties I have experienced have been when I have wanted to change house insurers. The last time I wanted to do it the insurers wanted to know the full flood history from the time the property was built 130 plus years (and expected me to provide all that info to them), how many times it had been flooded, when and what had been undertaken over this time period by the envirnmental flood agency to reduce the risk etc....crazy really. Based on this request, I never bothered changing insurers and my quotes have remained reasonable.

Since I have lived in my house (11 years) I have had no flood issues (the river has got very high on a couple occassions) and I have found the enviromental agency to be excellent with their flood line and risk mitigating activities etc. On that bases I agree that the links you have been provided so far are the right place to start your investigations.

Regards.

[henrycrun]

BTW are there any websites that specialise in riverside property ?

[Sam_68]

TooLateForAName said:

The environment agency have maps showing flood risk - find them on their web site.

I'd also check out flood areas on the same river system and do some serious asking about the flood defences in the area and what flood defences are planed. You could find yourself under water because of works done to protect an urban area downstream.

A word of warning, here - the EA flood maps are ludicrously inaccurate in a lot of cases (and in both directions; they can suggest that areas are prone to floosing when they are not, and equally vice-versa). Take them with a large pinch of salt.

We frequently use computer flood modelling (a very expensive exercise, by the standards of the private homeowner) in conjunction with historic evidence to argue the case with the EA, but this would hardly be practicable for an individual.

The warning about planned flood defences downstream is a good one - this can have a major impact.

The other problem is that the hydraulic performance of many watercourses is becoming progressively worse due to lack of maintenance (and ironically this can be worsened by the EA's reluctance to allow bank clearance or dredging due to the ecological impact). Essentially, many watercourses are gradually 'clogging up' with silt and vegetation, so the fact that they haven't flooded yet, in conjunction with the predicted increase in severity of 1-in-30 and 1-in-100 year flood events due to climate change, means that it can't necessarily be guaranteed that they won't flood in the future. Again, it would be a case of flood modelling to predict the likelihood and severity of future flood risk, but not really practicable or cost-effective for the individual homeowner.

[Steve_W]

We're on the edge of one of the EA's flood areas due to the stream at the bottom of the garden - the last bad floods in July '07 came halfway up the garden and stopped just before the garage.

We've found that the NFU have been one of the best for insurance without ridiculous conditions.

Sam - too true about the ridiculous rules on not cutting back vegetation and too much silting up happening. Heaven help you if you try to do anything about it - one of my neighbours got a royal rollicking from the EA guy for our area when he suggested some mild, mid-channel dredging. All because that would damage "potential habitat" - not actual habitat, just potential - no signs of any special bugs or beasties, but the fish will have to walk soon if the silt contintues to build up!

[SJobson]

Sam_68 said:

We frequently use computer flood modelling (a very expensive exercise, by the standards of the private homeowner) in conjunction with historic evidence to argue the case with the EA, but this would hardly be practicable for an individual.

Have you looked at Landmark's flood maps? They've been pushing these for the last year or so, on the basis that they don't just cover fluvial flooding, but I suspect that they're no substitute for proper modelling.

OP: a 70m wide river sounds pretty big; is it an estuary or something? Might be less prone to severe flooding if it's tidal...

[BMWChris]

SJobson said:

Sam_68 said:

We frequently use computer flood modelling (a very expensive exercise, by the standards of the private homeowner) in conjunction with historic evidence to argue the case with the EA, but this would hardly be practicable for an individual.

Have you looked at Landmark's flood maps? They've been pushing these for the last year or so, on the basis that they don't just cover fluvial flooding, but I suspect that they're no substitute for proper modelling.

OP: a 70m wide river sounds pretty big; is it an estuary or something? Might be less prone to severe flooding if it's tidal...

Its about 25 miles inland from the mouth (river length). I might have over estimated but would have thought it is at least 50m wide.

EA seem to think it is at "moderate risk" so I guess one has to balance lots of evenings sitting by the river against a few very anxious nights worrying about flooding. My wife worries a lot so we might need to consider that. She doesn't like boats or water either so it might be a slightly selfish purchase!

[Conian]

http://www.floodforum.org.uk/

[sjj84]

You'd be better off taking a walk around the area and asking some of the locals where does and doesn't flood. My parents house backs on to a river, the otherside is a farmers field which is lower than their house. The field floods every year, there house has never even been close. Unfortuntately the insurers don't care about this fact and they find it increasingly difficult to find cover. Pretty much have to stay with the same company year after year. Infact their neighbour has this year been told by her insurer that they will no longer cover her due to the river.

[RedLeicester]

Sam_68 said:

TooLateForAName said:

The environment agency have maps showing flood risk - find them on their web site.

I'd also check out flood areas on the same river system and do some serious asking about the flood defences in the area and what flood defences are planed. You could find yourself under water because of works done to protect an urban area downstream.

A word of warning, here - the EA flood maps are ludicrously inaccurate in a lot of cases (and in both directions; they can suggest that areas are prone to floosing when they are not, and equally vice-versa). Take them with a large pinch of salt.

I concur, they're unutterable bullpoo, and the associated housing surveys that use them are just as risible. When we bought our house, the EA map had our entire house and garden (some 18 acres) coated in blue. It then went on to state:

Number of flood events in the last 100 years = None
Geological evidence for flood events in the last 1000 years = None.

House Status = Uninsurable.

I nearly died laughing - the house is on a HILL for goodess sake, the evil watercourse that is going to inundate it would have to rise from its current state as an ikkle trickle, burst its "banks", rise some 15 metres out of a valley, inundate the surrounding fields (around 200 acres) and submerge two other villages also on hills before it even so much as tickled our doorstep.

Likewise however, we panicked, thinking that such a survey was the deathknell for any plans, until we found out that like all things, there are Insurers and Insurers - those for the mass market which will cane you for there being an R in the month, and others which are rather more reasonable and sanguine. We ended up with four quotes from different insurers, all of whom stated they ignored the EA surveys as irrelevant junk, and made their own decisions - and in their minds, the risk was infitesimal.

Obviously in your case you're dealing with a larger watercourse, and less height differentials, but even so, I'd ask around and I suspect you'll be surprised how reasonable some insurers can be. It's not all Daily Wail doom and gloom.