Solicitors urged to show diligence on flood risk to avoid insurance problems for clients

Landmark Information Group warns solicitors that it is essential to advise clients about the risk of flooding as part of due diligence process.

• Thousands still living in temporary accommodation nearly a year on from Summer 2007 floods
• Homeowners denied insurance in some areas or facing huge excesses on existing policies

With the dramatic impact of last year`s widespread flooding across the UK, Landmark Information Group is advising solicitors that a flood report should be a standard part of the conveyancing process. This year many flood victims are facing yet more problems, with some insurance policies encumbered by large excesses, some now exceeding £30,000, while others have been denied insurance all together.

In many of these cases solicitors and homebuyers were unaware of the information available on flood and instead relied on local knowledge to make a decision on risk. With recent record flooding and suggestions that the nature of flood risk is changing - even in areas that have not previously been affected - Landmark urges solicitors to consider the due diligence implications of flood risk information to protect both themselves and their clients.

James Sherwood-Rogers, Managing Director of Landmark Legal & Financial, comments: `Whilst properties are technically insured they are not always effectively covered. With the Met Office`s 10-year climate forecast warning of more of last summer`s kind of flooding; and the Government allowing house builders to construct new homes on flood plains; not only must solicitors ensure their clients are certain about current insurability, but also about any risk of flooding ` hence the importance of obtaining a Homecheck Professional Flood Report.`

In Hull, where 7,000 homes and 1,300 businesses were hit by the recent flooding and causing an estimated £200 million of clean-up costs*, the council is working with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to ensure residents have access to quality and affordable insurance. However, there are already cases of people facing an excess of £10,000 compared with £50 before the flood.

Flood victim Carol Laws from Hull said: `We are still living in a caravan in the garden ten months after our home was flooded, which is really inconvenient, not to mention very distressing for the family. When the flood came it was completely out of the blue and it completely engulfed the ground floor causing more than £30,000 worth of damage.`

`It was such a shock because we didn`t even know that we were in an area which could be at risk from flooding, as we didn`t think we were near a flood plain. We are expecting our insurance renewal in August; I just hope the excesses don`t rise as has happened to other people.`

Landmark spoke with a Tewksbury flood victim who was shocked when they recently received their contents renewal premium to find that it had increased four-fold.

Approximately five million people in two million homes live in flood risk areas across England and Wales. Landmark`s Homecheck Professional Flood Report provides solicitors with essential information regarding the proximity of flood plains, tidal stretches as well as groundwater susceptibility in relation to their client`s property.

James Sherwood-Rogers continues: `Our Homecheck Professional Flood Report is the UK`s most comprehensive report of its kind and will provide solicitors with clear information which will allow them to provide due diligence information when advising their client on any risk to their property. This will allow homeowners to make sufficient preparations to minimise damage and inconvenience.` The Homecheck Professional Flood Report is unique, featuring not only data from the Environment Agency, and Norwich Union (the UK`s biggest flood insurers), but also records of actual flood claims in the local area.