Flood Insurance Guide
Will your home
get cover?
Most Irish homes can get flood cover, but 1 in 20 properties has limited access, insurers decide address by address, and a refusal can threaten a mortgage. Check the address before you bid.
Free OPW flood check in about a minute. New to the zones? Flood Zones A, B and C explained.
The Numbers
How many Irish homes can't get flood insurance?
Up to 36,700 mortgaged Irish homes sit on land deemed at risk of flooding, and 1 in 20 properties has limited access to flood insurance (Central Bank of Ireland, May 2026).
mortgaged homes on land deemed at risk of flooding
properties with limited access to flood cover
flood chance over a mortgage term for high-likelihood homes
completed OPW relief schemes nationally
Where the gap concentrates
Up to 54% of the insurance gap sits in Dublin, Cork, Louth, Clare, Kildare. Cover that is routine on one street can be refused a few hundred metres away.
Central Bank of Ireland, May 2026
Defences count in your favour
57 completed OPW schemes protect over 13,640+ properties, and €1.3 billion is committed to flood relief under the National Development Plan.
OPW / gov.ie
The market may change
In August 2026 the Government set up a working group to examine gaps in the flood insurance market. Until it reports, the rules stand: check the specific address.
The Irish Times, Aug 2026
Figures verified 15 August 2026. Sources: Central Bank of Ireland; The Irish Times; OPW floodinfo.ie. In August 2026 the Government established a working group to examine gaps in the flood insurance market, and the rules below may evolve when it reports.
How It Works
What decides whether an Irish home gets flood cover?
Flood history at the address, mapped extents and defences, and prior claims. Insurers price at the level of the individual address, so two houses on one road can get different answers.
Three things: flood history at the address, mapped flood extents and defences, and prior claims on the property. Irish insurers price flood risk at the level of the individual address, so two houses on the same road can get different answers.
Flood history at the address
Recorded flood events at or near the property are the strongest signal an underwriter sees. One event on the street can shape every quote that follows.
Flood maps & defences
Insurers overlay their own flood models on OPW mapping. Being inside a mapped extent counts against you; a completed OPW relief scheme counts for you.
Prior claims on the property
A previous flood claim follows the building, not the owner. Ask the seller directly, because claims history surfaces in conveyancing anyway: better to know before you bid.
A “refusal” rarely means no policy at all. More often it is a flood exclusion (the policy pays for everything except flood damage) or a large excess. Either version matters to a mortgage lender, so surface it before you are financially committed, not after.
Before You Bid
The flood-cover checklist for buyers.
Check the Eircode against OPW data
Run the address through a PropertyPack check: it reads OPW flood mapping and recorded past flood events for the specific Eircode, alongside 17 other checks.
Ask the seller the direct questions
Has the property ever flooded? Have there been flood-related insurance claims? Is there a flood exclusion or special excess on the current policy? Sellers' answers here carry weight in conveyancing.
Get a real quote before going sale agreed
Ask an insurer or broker to quote the actual address and confirm flood cover explicitly. This is the only definitive answer: no dataset can promise what an individual underwriter will offer.
Name the defences
If the area is protected by a completed OPW scheme, cite it: insurers receive completed-scheme data under the OPW/Insurance Ireland agreement.
Tell your lender early if cover is restricted
Lenders normally require buildings insurance including flood cover on mortgaged property. A restriction discovered after sale agreed can unwind the purchase late and expensively.
Start with step one. The free snapshot includes the OPW flood check for the exact Eircode.
Start with a flood risk check for any Irish address, then work through the full buying-a-house checklist.
By County
Flood risk data for your county.
Official data sourced from Irish government agencies
Frequently Asked Questions
Flood insurance in Ireland: FAQs.
How do I check if my house is in a flood zone in Ireland?
Enter the Eircode at propertypack.ie: the free snapshot runs the OPW flood check for that exact address in about a minute, alongside the other checks. The check reads OPW flood mapping and recorded past flood events for the address, and you can also browse the OPW's national flood maps yourself at floodinfo.ie.
Can I get flood insurance in Ireland?
Most Irish homes can get flood cover as part of a standard home insurance policy, but the Central Bank estimates 1 in 20 properties has limited access to flood insurance. Insurers assess flood risk address by address, so cover that is routine on one street can be refused, excluded or heavily excessed a few hundred metres away.
Why would an insurer refuse flood cover?
The main triggers are recorded flood history at or near the address, location in a mapped flood extent, and prior flood claims on the property. Insurers use their own flood models plus OPW data. A refusal usually takes the form of a flood exclusion or a very high excess rather than declining the whole policy.
Does an OPW flood relief scheme help me get insurance?
Often, yes. Since 2014 the OPW has shared completed-scheme data with Insurance Ireland so members can reflect the reduced risk: 57 completed schemes protect over 13,640 properties, and average flood cover in areas protected by those schemes has risen. If the area is defended, tell the insurer which scheme protects it.
Can I check flood risk before making an offer?
Yes, and you should, before bidding, not after going sale agreed. A PropertyPack check runs the Eircode against OPW flood mapping and recorded past flood events (plus 17 other checks). For a definitive insurance answer, also get a real quote naming flood cover explicitly before you commit: no public dataset can promise what an individual insurer will offer.
What happens if I buy a house that can't get flood cover?
Where a property is mortgage collateral, lenders normally require buildings insurance including flood cover, so a refusal can threaten the mortgage itself. The Central Bank notes that uninsured households carry the repair risk personally: homes with a high flood likelihood face a 96% cumulative chance of at least one flood over a mortgage term.
Is the flood insurance situation changing?
Possibly. In August 2026 the Government established a working group to examine gaps in the flood insurance market and identify practical solutions on a time-bound programme. Until it reports, the market rules above stand: check the specific address, and get quotes early.
Check First
Know the flood picture before you bid.
Enter an Eircode: OPW flood mapping and past flood events for the exact address, in a free snapshot.
No card. No account. Ready in about a minute.
