Home and car insurance flooding warning issued as households and drivers told what isn't covered

Drivers and homeowners have been issued a flooding insurance warning

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Home owners are being warned to check what their home insurance policies actually cover when it comes to flooding - in the wake of flash flooding hitting various parts of the UK, including heavy rain and submerged streets in Yorkshire.

As well as houses seeing their entire ground floors being left underwater, destroying their possessions, people have also seen cars being washed away down rain soaked streets.

Both the home and car flooding has led people to rush online to check if their home or car insurance policies will cover the damage. And the answer is: it depends on several factors.

Read More: Flood chaos hits Whitby, Scarborough, Saltburn and Robin Hood's Bay

According to car insurance experts at Compare The Market, insurance providers categorise car insurance in two ways:

"Unavoidable flood damage – if your car is flooded where it’s usually parked.

"Avoidable flood damage – if you take risks like driving into a flooded area, despite warnings."

So if you ignore flood warnings - and these could be warnings issued on the news, rather than signs on streets - and knowingly drive into a flooded area, you could find that your policy won't pay out.

But if you park your car where it always is, and flooding happens to flash flood your street, it's likely the insurers will pay out, as long as your policy is valid in every other way. And insurers can look for any loophole, such as if you declared on your policy that you leave it in a locked garage but it was actually left on the street.

For home insurance, householders are being warned of several things that aren't covered when it comes to flooding.

If you live in a high risk area, or your house has flooded before, then the quote you've been given might exclude flooding damage cover.

Some parts of your property such as fences or outbuildings like sheds may not be covered.

And the vast majority of policies DO NOT cover groundwater flooding, either for buildings or contents, and sometimes both, which is where flooding is caused by groundwater building up slowly over time.

Groundwater flooding can happen where heavy rainfall stops sewers and drainage pipes from working properly because the ground is already saturated.

As with all of it, the key is to check your policy, both now and in the future when you take a policy out. A cheap deal can often hide things that have been removed from your policy in order to get the quote down, so always be sure to check what you need covered and ensure you've got it before you hand over the money.

If it turns out you don't have cover or can't get it because you live in a high risk area like the Yorkshire coast, there is something called the 'Flood Re' scheme which uses money pooled from insurers to provide cover and help homeowners get some financial compensation.