Flood Re is a joint scheme between the UK government and the insurance industry that lets insurers offer affordable cover to homes at flood risk. It only covers homes that were built and had a council tax band before 2009, occupied by you or your immediate family as your only or main home. You cannot buy from Flood Re directly: it works behind the scenes through participating insurers, who set the price of your policy. The scheme is due to run until 2039.

If you have been refused home insurance because of flooding, or quoted a premium that made you wince, Flood Re is the reason it is still worth shopping around rather than giving up. Most people who benefit from it never know it was involved.

What Flood Re actually is

Flood Re is a reinsurance scheme. Your insurer sells you an ordinary home insurance policy, then passes the flood risk part of it to Flood Re for a fixed price. Because the insurer is no longer carrying the flood risk itself, it can price the policy as if the flood risk were modest, even where the property has flooded before.

From the householder’s side, nothing changes. There is no difference in the way you buy a policy or make a claim, and your claim is handled by your insurer, not by Flood Re.

Which homes qualify

The property must be residential, in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, with buildings cover, contents cover or both. It must be occupied by you or your immediate family as your only or main home. Houses, single flats, some blocks of flats and mobile homes on licensed sites can all qualify.

The cut-off that catches people out: Flood Re only covers homes built and given a council tax band before 2009. Homes built from 2009 onwards are deliberately excluded, to avoid encouraging new building on flood plains.

Which homes do not qualify

Homes built in or after 2009. Commercial and business properties. Properties rented out to people who are not your immediate family, which rules out most buy-to-let. Properties in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Those exclusions are exactly where a broker earns their keep, because cover for a post-2009 home on a flood plain or a let property with flood history has to be found in the specialist market instead.

The 2039 deadline

Flood Re is due to run until 2039, after which insurers are expected to price flood risk on the actual risk to the property in a free market. What that means for high-risk homes after 2039 is one of the open questions in UK insurance, and a reason flood resilience improvements are worth making now rather than later.

Common questions

Can I apply to Flood Re directly?

No. Flood Re only deals with insurers. You buy an ordinary home insurance policy from an insurer or through a broker, and the insurer decides whether to pass the flood risk into the scheme. The insurer sets your premium, not Flood Re.

Does Flood Re cover homes built after 2009?

No. Only homes built and given a council tax band before 2009 qualify. Newer homes at flood risk need specialist cover instead.

Does Flood Re cover rented or buy-to-let property?

Not unless the tenant is your immediate family. Properties rented out commercially are excluded, as are commercial and business premises.

Will my claim be handled differently under Flood Re?

No. You claim from your insurer in the normal way. Flood Re sits behind the insurer and most policyholders never see it.

What happens when Flood Re ends in 2039?

The scheme is designed to transition to a free market where flood risk is priced on the actual risk to each property. Nobody can say today what that does to premiums on high-risk homes, which is a reason to invest in flood resilience while the scheme is running.

Related guides

This page explains how the Flood Re scheme works. It is general information, not advice, and it does not describe the terms of any particular insurance policy. Solar Insurance Services can help you find cover for flood-affected and other non-standard homes.

Solar Insurance Services (Medway) Limited is registered in England and Wales, company number 05439438, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 459582.

Sources: Flood Re, Can Flood Re help me, and About us pages (floodre.co.uk).