Thank you to Terry P for sending in this email. Please add your views & experiences to the comment box.
After the flooding events of 2008 in parwich, its quite evident that some bright spark sat in an office somewhere has designated Parwich as a High Risk flood area, even though the events of 2008 were as a result of a cloud burst. I would be most interested to hear from anyone experiencing difficulty in getting insurance against flood risk.
Click here to access the Environment Agency Flood map of our area and double click on the map to get further information.
PARWICH.ORG 
I’ve renewed my insurance after being flooded in 2008. The premium has increased as a result of loss of no claims discount, which is understandable. However, the excess on the building is now £6000 inspite of the purchase (£10) of an Environmental Agency letter confirming Woodeaves to be on the Low Likelihood of Flooding classification. The insurance company additionally wanted a ‘Flood Expert’ to assess the property and confirm that effective measures had been taken to control the risk of future flooding. There was no guarentee that the letter from the flood expert (whatever that is!) would result in a reduction of the excess.
As Terry P says, ‘it was a cloud burst’. The insurance company is certainly taking a very cautious approach. Needless to say, I will not be employing a ‘expert’ in the hope of reducing the excess.
Dave R
I have no idea if it would help – but is there such a thing as an ‘insurance’ omnibus like there is for electricity, water, phone, etc?
Insurance is covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (see http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ ).
Someone who had been ‘flooded’ in the 2008 downpour was told that it was important to indicate that the water entering his house was not ‘flooding’ (i.e. water from elsewhere arriving due to rises in the level of a river or stream) but ‘run off’ (i.e. water running off land because of a cloud burst). For some houses in 2008 in Parwich the water did come from the Brook, but for many it came off roads and the hillside, though how we get the Environment Agency to recognise this I don’t know.
Also the Environment Agency Flood Map for Parwich includes a number of houses supposedly at risk from flooding by the Brook that were not effected in 2008, even though this was a once in over a hundred year event. It includes houses as at risk that have never been flooded.
It may be we are in a catch 22, in that to have any chance of getting funding to ensure that there is no repeat of 2008 we have to be classified as a flood risk.