That Sinking Feeling.

1st October 2003

T. Wyn Jones

Sitting here writing this article on a beautiful "Indian Summers" evening my thoughts turn to the forthcoming winter and inevitable flood warnings.

I am told that some 200,000 homes which are deemed to be at severe risk of flooding face being refused insurance cover as a result of government delays in passing crucial information about flood defences to insurers.

Insurance companies are becoming increasingly frustrated with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs because it has delivered hardly any of the details of current and planned flood defences it promised.

Insurers, acting through their trade body the Association of British Insurers (ABI), signed a deal with the Government agreeing to carry on covering homes even at severe risk of flooding from the start of this year. The move allowed Britain's two million homeowners who live on flood planes and the Government to breathe a sigh of relief that a large number of people would not face financial ruin every time there was a major flood. But all is not well.

The ABI stipulated in the deal that its members, which paid more than £1bn in claims after the floods in 2000, would only continue to cover particularly vulnerable homes if the Environment Agency handed over information about the current state of flood defences and outlined details about how it planned to improve the defences by 2007.

The data was due to be with the Insurance Companies at the beginning of this year but the last time I checked they had not received any information about this part of the country and what they had received was concerning what is currently in place. They still do not know what new flood defences are going to be introduced.

The result of all this? Insurers say the delays have forced them this year to turn down some homeowners seeking cover - and it seems that it is only going to get worst.

So when viewing any properties as a potential purchaser keep an eye out for any watercourses and ask the question both of the vendor and the local authority otherwise you may find that you have acquired an uninsurable property, not only that, it may turn out in the future to be an un-saleable property!

Wyn Jones is a partner of McCartneys, Auctioneers, Surveyors & Property Agents. For further information on Property Matters he can be contacted on Tel 07702 722905 or by e mail on - wyn@mccartneys.co.uk