Flood Re - Are you Eligible?

Are You Eligible for the Flood Re Scheme?
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Are You Eligible for the Flood Re Scheme?

Since launching in April 2016 Flood Re has helped over 145,000 households in high flood risk areas obtain insurance. Flood Re is a government backed scheme designed to provide affordable insurance for people owning or living in properties that are at a high risk of flooding. Whilst this is fantastic progress It is estimated that Flood Re will eventually help some 350,000 households.
The Flood Re scheme does not cover all properties. To be eligible for the scheme properties must meet all 8 of the following acceptance criteria:
Flood Re acceptance criteria:
  1. The property is currently covered by an insurance contract which is held in the name of, (or on trust for) one or more individuals or by the personal representative of an individual.
  2. The policy holder, or their immediate family, must live in the property for some or all of the time (this can be with other people) or the property must be unoccupied.
  3. The property must have a domestic Council Tax Band A to H (or equivalent).
  4. The property must be used for private, residential purposes.
  5. The property must be a single residential unit or a building comprising of two or three residential units.
  6. The property must be insured on an individual basis or have an individual premium, it cannot be part of a policy which includes a number of other properties as well.
  7. The property must be built before 1st January 2009 (if a home is built before 1stJanuary 2009 but then demolished and rebuilt, the new home will however still be eligible).
  8. The property must be located within the UK specifically being: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (excluding the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands)
Are there any exceptions to this?

There are however some exceptions to the types of property that can be included which we have listed below (A-I). These properties must also meet all of the 8 criteria to be eligible. The property types are:

  1. Bed and breakfasts paying Council Tax and insured under a home insurance contract.
  2. Farmhouses dwellings and cottages. Where farmhouse dwellings are included in as part of a commercial lines insurance policy, as long as the insurer can split out the dwelling element (and that this meets the criteria 1-8 (inclusive) above), the dwelling part of the risk can be ceded to Flood Re.
  3. Holiday homes/Second Homes.
  4. Properties occupied by home workers.
  5. Individual leaseholders protecting their own property/flat.
  6. Leasehold blocks if they contain 3 units or fewer and the freeholder(s) lives in one of the units to be insured.
  7. Single unit leasehold properties where the leaseholder insures the structure of the property.
  8. Residential "buy to let" properties.
  9. Static Caravans/homes if in personal ownership
If you are looking to insure one of these types of properties (A-I inclusive) then you will also only be able to buy either insurance for the buildings or a combined insurance policy (covering both the building and its contents) you therefore cannot buy cover for just the contents of the building.
Flood Re will also cover a tenant's or individual person's contents in a rented or leasehold property even if the buildings risk would not be eligible (for example large blocks of flats) as long as the policy and the property it relates to meet the 8 acceptance criteria.
What about businesses?

Flood Re sadly excludes businesses and commercial properties and there is no equivalent scheme in place to assist the thousands of businesses located in high flood risk areas.

Have you got a question that we've not answered? Call our team on 01832 770770, we'll be happy to help.
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