[1]As Flood Re, a flood re-insurance scheme to help support households at highest risk of flooding, launches today, SearchFlow [2], property intelligence specialist, warns that only interpreted flood reports flagging potential eligibility for Flood Re will sufficiently protect homebuyers.
With another winter of floods exposing many homeowners to devastating losses, the Government and Industry scheme to enable flood cover to be affordable for households at the highest risk of flooding is a welcome initiative for many.
However, not all properties are eligible to benefit from Flood Re and due to the detailed criteria defining whether your property qualifies, it is now a lot less clear throughout the conveyancing process as to how to proceed.
Environmental reports offering clear and pragmatic advice on flood risk, which identify properties that could potentially qualify for the Flood Re protection and how to proceed in light of the new changes, will help ensure conveyancers fulfil their due-diligence and consumers are best protected.
Greg Bryce, managing director of SearchFlow, comments: “Whilst the Flood Re scheme will offer much needed protection to homebuyers purchasing properties in flood risk areas, it has certainly added another layer of complexity to the home-buying process.
“This initiative has sharpened the industry’s focus on flood risk assessment prior to a property transaction. It is now very important that we provide flood reports that define the potential to cede properties into Flood Re and outline clear guidance on what it means for the homebuyer and their insurance availability.”
Argyll Environmental part of Landmark Information Group provides a range of flood reports, including part of the comprehensive environmental report, Risk View Residential.
Their flood reports include the latest datasets that have been rigorously analysed and reviewed by their consultancy and data teams to present a risk from all different types of flooding.
These datasets allow Argyll Environmental to be the only provider to present an overall flood risk considering all of the main sources of flooding: river, coastal, groundwater and surface water.
In addition, they provide a clear consultant commentary that presents a pragmatic summary of risk and what this means from an insurance perspective, covering Flood Re.
Chris Loaring, head of consultancy and customer services at Landmark Information Group comments: “The post Flood Re world has highlighted how critical your choice of desktop report provider is in your property due-diligence process.
“High quality suppliers should present an interpreted and pragmatic professional opinion on the data used within their search, alongside an explanation and guidance on Flood Re.”
Flood Re is a not-for-profit organisation, accountable directly to Central Government and responsible for single peril re-insurance (flood risk).
The scheme administered by Landmark and Capita will allow insurers to cede the flood part of home insurance policies bought by their customers.