Flood risk
The survey mentions flood risk and does not state an insurance excess. Why is the excess not something the surveyor owes you?
Because the survey mentions flood risk and states no insurance excess, that excess is not a figure the surveyor owes you. An excess is a term of an insurance policy. It is not a condition rating and not a measurement the inspection took. GOV.UK's long-term flood check for England is an official check for an area. It is not an excess, and it is not a quote. The survey can mention flood risk. It does not owe you the deductible a future insurer might set.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
People turn a flood paragraph into a bill: they want the excess, the premium and a promise. The surveyor did not hold the policy schedule, and mentioning risk does not create those numbers. A neighbour's story about a payout, and the official England check, both belong with the solicitor and the insurer. Neither of them rewrites the survey rating into an insurance figure. Do not invent an excess because the report used the word flood. There is no sum hiding in that sentence.
Ask the insurer, when you have a proposal, what excess applies to this address, and ask the solicitor to look at the searches they actually ordered. If the only flood document you hold is an England printout, do not use it as a map for a home in Wales, and do not rename it as an excess. Keep the survey's flood mention as the mention it is. The excess, if one exists, will be in an insurance document the surveyor was not engaged to write.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you state an excess anywhere, or only mention flood risk?
- Which sentence should be read as risk, not as an insurance figure?
- Are you expecting the insurer, not the survey, to name any excess?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the insurer what excess applies, if you need that figure.
- Do not invent an excess from the survey's flood mention.
- Give the official check and any neighbour account to the solicitor and the insurer.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If a neighbour paid a large excess, is that now yours?
No. A neighbour's account is not your policy. Pass it to the solicitor and the insurer. It does not rewrite the survey into an excess.
Does the England flood check state the excess?
No. The long-term check is about flood risk for an area in England. It is not an insurance excess the surveyor owes you.