Homeowners are baffled by the information available to them about flood risks, according to research by Norwich Union.
The survey suggests that the UK is only now beginning to wake up to the threat of flooding.
One in five British people have been affected by flooding and almost a third worry more about flooding than they did 12 months ago.
The survey said that there is likely to be a ten-fold increase in the risk of flooding over the next century.
However almost 70% feel flood defences do not provide adequate protection against flooding.
Norwich Union head of property underwriting John Smeaton said: "Britain needs to adapt to the danger of flooding because the scale of the problem in recent years has escalated to unprecedented levels.
"Whilst progress has been made by the Government, flooding is still a real risk to the UK as many thousands of homeowners have unfortunately found out in the last few years."
