Conveyancers could be exposing themselves to liability by failing to obtain information about flooding, which is set to become the latest ‘uninsurable risk’, a leading commercial property solicitor has warned.

Suzanne Gill, a commercial property partner at McGrigors in London, said that flooding is affecting an increasing number of properties.

She said: ‘Because of the increased likelihood of it occurring, flooding could become the next uninsurable risk. But because uninsurable risks are often seen as a theoretical possibility, practitioners aren’t turning their minds to them.’

In 2000, the Association of British Insurers agreed with the government that insurers would insure against flooding provided that the flood risk was managed adequately. That agreement runs out in 2013.

Gill said: ‘Solicitors need to be aware of this change now and address it.

For example, if you’re negotiating a lease in a flood risk area and that lease expires after 2013, you need to consider how the lease deals with uninsurable risk.’

Gill said that Law Society guidance has advised solicitors that environmental searches, which would reveal any flood risk, should be done in all conveyancing transactions.

‘If solicitors don’t obtain this information, they could be leaving themselves open to liability,’ she warned.