Disclaimer
What this site is, what it is not, and why a low flood risk is not a guarantee that a property will stay dry.
This is a reading of public data, nothing more
Everything here comes from open maps published by the Environment Agency and from the Office for National Statistics postcode data. We present them faithfully and we credit them. We do not verify them, we cannot correct them, and we are not the authority on any of them. Where the official map says something different, the official map wins.
Not an official flood search
A conveyancer orders the formal searches on a purchase, and a surveyor looks at the building itself. This site and the Flood Risk Report do neither. They summarise open Environment Agency data so that you can ask better questions. Use them before you make an offer, not instead of the legal and survey work afterwards.
A low risk is not no risk
The bands describe the chance of flooding in any given year. A "Low" or "Very low" band means flooding is less likely, not that it cannot happen, and floods that were considered unlikely have happened. Nothing on this site says that a property will not flood.
Precision
Unless you place the pin yourself, the check runs on the centre of your postcode unit, which typically covers about fifteen addresses. For a river or sea flood zone that is usually a fair guide. For surface water, which can differ from one plot to the next, it may not be. The result always says which point was used.
What the maps do not cover
The maps used here do not show groundwater flooding, reservoir or dam failure, sewer flooding, small local watercourses or future climate change. A map showing no risk for one of these is not a statement that the risk is absent. See the method for the full list.
Insurance and mortgages
An insurer or a lender will make its own assessment, often with different data. Nothing here predicts what they will offer or charge, and nothing here is financial, insurance or legal advice.
It is a snapshot
The maps are updated from time to time and live warnings change by the hour. A report describes what the sources said on the day you ordered it, and that date is printed on it. If you are making a decision months later, run the check again.
If we are wrong
Tell us. If a report misstates something that comes from the source data, we correct it and refund the fee. Our liability is set out in the terms.