Brits have claimed £31m for flood damages between 2020 and 2024 - find out if you’re at risk!

In total, more than 1,600 claims were made on home insurance policies over the 5 years.

The data comes as Confused.com investigates how many properties are considered high risk of flooding - and the impact this has had on homeowners and renters.

To find out if your local parliamentary area is at risk, use this tool to find out how it’s changed over time.

According to the research, over 122,000 homes are considered at ‘high risk’ of flooding in England.

This is a 1.3% increase compared to 2018 - where these homes have a 3.3% chance of being flooded annually and are considered ‘high risk’ of being flooded once every 30 years.

However, according to Environmental Agency data, some areas are more vulnerable today compared to 2018.

For example, London has seen a 37.5% increase in the number of properties at high risk of flooding from just over 8,000 in 2018 to more than 11,000 in 2023.

This means more than 3,000 properties are at higher risk today than 5 years ago.

Similarly, the North East has seen an 8.7% increase in high-risk properties over the same period - from 1,121 to 1,218 between 2018 and 2023.

Why has flood risk increased?

There are many reasons why the number of homes at risk of flooding has increased over the years.

Climate change is a contributing factor, leading to more rainfall and rising water levels.

But we’re also seeing more and more homes being built each year, which could be putting more properties at risk. For example, there were approximately 24.2m residential properties in England in 2018, and 25.4m in 2023 - a 5% increase over the 5 year period.

Therefore, there’s a likelihood that many of these new properties could have been built on land that’s close to water and could be at risk of flooding.

However, some areas of England have seen their total drop between 2018 and 2023.

For example, in Lancashire, there were 33.7% fewer homes reported in 2023 compared to 2018.

Similarly, in East Sussex, the total fell by 30.4% over the same period.

In total, 19 of the 47 English counties saw a decrease in the number of high flood-risk properties between 2018 and 2023.

Understanding your risk against flooding

Nevertheless, further research by Confused.com found that 1 in 4 (25%) UK homeowners or renters live, or have lived in a flood risk area.

Of these, almost 3 in 4 (71%) experienced flooding in their local area, and more than 1 in 4 (28%) had flooding in their personal property.

In these cases, more than 2 in 3 (69%) claimed that the damage caused to their property was severe. And this is reflected in the value of damage caused to their home, which was around £849, on average.

However, almost 1 in 4 (23%) of those affected by flooding in their property claimed that the damages totalled more than £1,000.

As a result, victims have claimed millions of pounds from their insurers to ease the financial burden that damages to homes can cause.

With homes becoming unlivable, and properties being damaged, flooding can have a very distressing impact on residents in the UK.

Understanding the risk in your area is important to know how you can best prepare for flood events and minimise any impact where you can.

Matthew Harwood, home insurance expert at Confused.com, said: “Flooding is something that affects the UK every year, from severe rainfall to flash flooding.

“The impact that this is having on homes and communities across the country can be devastating. It’s concerning to see that people are having to recover more from their insurers today than compared to 5 years ago.”

“The aftermath of flood damage can have a profound impact on people.

“That’s before they have to recover the cost of any losses and damages.

“However, there are schemes out there to support people who are impacted, including the Flood Re Scheme.

“This is in place to help residents access affordable flood insurance cover as part of your home insurance.

“So if you’re worried that your insurance may not pay out, if you’re considered at risk, then there are initiatives that will help.

“Ensuring you have the right cover will help ease the stress flooding can cause, so you’re safe in the knowledge that you should be covered financially.”