What is the Flood Re scheme? 

Key takeaways

• Flood Re is a government-backed insurance scheme set up to help people in high-risk flood areas get more affordable home insurance

• Before Flood Re was in place, many homeowners living in areas prone to flooding struggled to find affordable home insurance with flood cover

• Flood Re is planned to be in place until 2039

What is the Flood Re scheme? 

Flood Re is a flood reinsurance scheme (hence the ‘Re’ in its name) that helps insurance companies cover the cost of flood-related claims. It works by allowing insurers to pass some of the financial risk of flooding to Flood Re, making it easier for them to offer affordable home insurance to people living in areas at high risk of flooding.

For consumers, this means you may be able to get home insurance that includes flood cover at a more affordable price, even if your property is in a flood-risk area. You don't need to contact Flood Re directly, as your insurer handles everything on your behalf.

Flood Re is a not-for-profit scheme run by the insurance industry to help make flood insurance more affordable. It's publicly accountable and funded by UK home insurers, who all pay into the scheme.

What is flood insurance? 

Flood insurance is normally included as part of home insurance policies for residential properties. It provides cover for costs resulting from damage caused by flooding, such as when rivers overflow or heavy rainfall causes water to build up because it can't drain away quickly enough (surface water flooding).

Buildings insurance covers flood damage to the structure of the property, while a contents policy covers the loss of or damage to your home’s contents and your belongings.

According to the Environment Agency, about 6.3 million properties in England alone are at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water.

How does Flood Re work? 

A flood claim is expensive for insurers, with claims often costing tens of thousands of pounds. This means if your property is prone to flooding, insurance premiums are likely to cost more as your home presents a higher risk.

In some areas, home insurance became too expensive for many people to buy, or they couldn’t find cover at all. So, Flood Re was set up by the government and insurance industry to help people in these areas buy affordable flood insurance.

Flood Re works behind the scenes when you buy home insurance. If you live in a property at a high risk of flooding, your insurer may place that part of the policy with Flood Re.

For homeowners, there is no difference to the way you buy a policy or make an insurance claim.

If you live in a flood-prone area you still buy buildings insurance, contents insurance or both directly from insurers, price comparison websites or insurance brokers.

Insurers are solely responsible for setting the price householders pay for their cover and will consider the premium paid to Flood Re when setting prices.

If you make a home insurance claim because of a flood, the claim will be managed and repair works completed by your insurer in the usual way, but your insurer will then be able to recover the costs from Flood Re.

Who qualifies for Flood Re?

If your home is in an area at risk of flooding, you may be eligible for insurance through the Flood Re scheme.

To qualify, your property and insurance policy generally need to meet the following criteria:

• The insurance policy must be in your name, held on trust for you or held by your personal representative

• You or your immediate family must live in the property for at least some of the time, or the property must be unoccupied

• The property must be used for private residential purposes

• It must have a domestic Council Tax band (A to H in England and Scotland, A to I in Wales, or the equivalent in Northern Ireland)

• For buildings insurance, it must generally be a standalone home or part of a building containing no more than three homes

• The property must be insured individually or have its own identifiable insurance premium

• It must have been built before 1 January 2009 and be in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The Isle of Man and Channel Islands are excluded

You may also be able use it if you live in a non-standard property.

Other properties that may qualify include farmhouses, certain bed and breakfasts, second homes, buy-to-let properties and privately owned static caravans. Eligibility depends on the property and insurance policy meeting the scheme's requirements.

You can check on the Flood Re website if your property is eligible.

Who is not eligible for Flood Re? 

Some properties aren't eligible for buildings insurance through Flood Re, including:

• Commercial properties and businesses

• Bed and breakfasts paying business rates

• Blocks containing more than three flats

• Housing association and social housing properties

• Farm outbuildings

• Buy-to-let properties that don't meet the scheme's eligibility criteria

• Static caravans owned or operated for commercial gain

Some residents of otherwise excluded buildings, including social housing and larger blocks of flats, may still qualify for contents insurance.

Other exclusions include properties built on or after 1 January 2009, so that the scheme doesn’t incentivise further house building in areas of high flood risk.

How do I find out if my home is high risk for flooding? 

Causes of flooding might be rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs or groundwater. 

Can Flood Re help tenants? 

Yes, Flood Re can help tenants, and also leaseholders.

As a tenant or leaseholder, you may only need contents insurance (as your landlord or freeholder is generally responsible for buildings insurance).

Flood Re will cover a tenant's or leaseholder’s contents in rented or leasehold properties even where the building itself would not be eligible (for example, a large block of flats), assuming all other eligibility criteria are met.

Which insurers are taking part in Flood Re? 

More than 60 insurers are signed up to Flood Re.

These include:

• banks such as Barclays, Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Santander

• building societies such as Nationwide, Yorkshire Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society

• insurance companies such as Churchill, Aviva, AXA, Admiral and LV=

You can find a list of insurers taking part in Flood Re on the Flood Re website.

However, it’s up to each insurance company as to whether they will cover a particular property and if they will use Flood Re. It’s also up to the insurer to set premiums for your policy, not Flood Re.

Does Flood Re save people money? 

Yes, Flood Re can save people money as it means those who live in flood prone areas have access to affordable home insurance. Without the scheme, premiums would be much higher.

According to Flood Re, the average annual home insurance quote for someone who had previously made a flood claim was around £4,400 before the scheme launched in 2016. By March 2026, this had fallen to approximately £1,316, a reduction of around 70%.

[SOURCE: https://www.floodre.co.uk/ara-2026/key-stats/]

However, the amount you could save will depend on your property, flood risk and insurer. There's no guaranteed saving, as insurance companies still set their own prices.

As always with insurance, you can save money on home insurance by shopping around for the best policy to meet your needs. You may be able to reduce the cost of home insurance by:

• increasing the excess on your policy

• building a no claims bonus

• installing home security devices

• buying buildings and contents insurance as a joint policy