Flood damage insurance claim: is flooding covered?

Yes, most home insurance policies cover flood damage, meaning water that enters your home from outside, such as a river bursting its banks or surface water from heavy rain. This is separate from escape of water, which is a leak from your own pipes or appliances inside the home. The two sit in different sections of your policy, so it helps to know which one you are claiming for.

What counts as flood damage

Flood means water entering your home from outside. That covers a river or stream bursting its banks, surface water building up during heavy rain and running in through doors or airbricks, or a burst water main in the street sending water towards your property. In each case the water starts outside and comes in.

This matters because flood is not the same as escape of water, which is an internal leak from your own plumbing or appliances, such as a burst pipe, a failed washing machine hose, or an overflowing tank. Escape of water sits in a different section of your policy and is handled as a separate type of claim. If you are not sure which one applies to you, our guide to an escape of water claim sets out how internal leaks work, and whether home insurance covers water damage gives the wider picture.

Is flood damage covered by home insurance?

Usually, yes. Most standard buildings and contents policies include flood cover. Buildings cover pays to repair the structure, the walls, floors, and fixed fittings. Contents cover pays to replace or repair belongings such as furniture, carpets, and electricals. For a whole-home flood you often need both.

Cover is not universal, though, so read your policy schedule rather than assuming. A few things can change the picture. Some policies exclude flood altogether. Some cap the amount they will pay for flood. And some apply a high separate flood excess, which is the fixed sum you pay towards a claim before the insurer pays the rest, often higher in areas known to flood. Check that flood is actually listed as a covered peril and note any excess figure next to it, because that is the part that can surprise people.

Flood Re and high-risk homes

If your home is in a high-risk area, you may have heard of Flood Re. It is a UK scheme that works behind the scenes between insurers to help make flood cover available and affordable for eligible homes. You do not deal with it directly. You still buy a normal policy from an insurer, and the flood element of that policy may be backed by Flood Re. If flood cover has been hard to find or expensive where you live, it is worth asking your insurer or broker whether the scheme applies. You can read more on the Flood Re website.

What a flood claim actually looks like

Flood claims tend to be large and slow, and it helps to expect that from the start. The damage is often extensive, contents can be contaminated by dirty water, and the property needs a long drying period before repairs can begin. That drying can mean weeks, sometimes months, of dehumidifiers and moisture monitoring while the structure returns to a safe level. Only then does the rebuild usually start.

Because the home may be uninhabitable during that time, alternative accommodation is usually covered so you have somewhere to live while the work goes on. Check the wording for any limit on the amount or the length of time. Picture a family whose ground floor floods after a river breaks its banks. The water recedes in a day, but the plaster, floors, and kitchen units stay wet, so the household lives in rented accommodation for several months while everything dries and is rebuilt. That is a normal shape for a serious flood claim, not an unusual one.

Document everything before you clean up

The instinct after a flood is to clear up fast. Before you do, record what happened. Take photos and video of every affected room, including standing water if it is safe, and the waterline on the walls. Make an inventory of damaged contents, room by room, and gather receipts or proof of purchase where you have them. Try not to throw items away before the insurer has seen them where possible, because that physical evidence supports what you are claiming. If you must remove ruined items for health reasons, photograph them clearly first. Our guide to gathering water damage claim evidence goes through this step by step.

When independent help is worth considering

Given the scale of a flood claim, independent help is often worth considering. A loss assessor is someone you can appoint to work for you, the policyholder, rather than for the insurer. They can help value the damage, prepare the claim, and deal with the insurer's representatives on your behalf. On a large, drawn-out flood claim, where the numbers are high and the process runs for months, that support can take pressure off you and keep the claim moving. Whether it is right for you depends on the size and complexity of your loss. Our page on whether you need a loss assessor weighs it up.

A quick word on the basics. This page is general information, not advice, and we are not an insurer, a loss adjuster, or regulated by the FCA. Your own cover is set by your policy wording, so read your schedule and speak to your insurer about your specific situation. Terms such as excess and flood cover can differ from one policy to the next.

Common questions