“Doesn’t my homeowners policy cover Flood Insurance?”
Nope it doesn’t.
In fact, this is one of the most common misconceptions that surround Homeowners Insurance. Flooding is one of those things that is specifically excluded on your Homeowners Insurance Policies.
But do you really need it?
According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) 20% of all flood claims submitted to them are not located in high-risk areas.
Your Homeowners Insurance Policy likely excludes any type of water damage that originates outside of the dwelling.
Many people in our area of the Western United States do not carry flood insurance because there are few large bodies of water and relatively very little rainfall. However, there are things that are ever increasing the risk of flooding in these states.
Wildfires are a major cause of flooding. When wildfires burn the vegetation it causes the soil less absorbent of water from rainfall, making the likelihood of flooding nearby much higher..
Heavy snow pack followed by unusually warm weather can also create massive floods in our “low-risk” areas.
Construction and development can change the natural water drainage of certain areas and create new risks of flooding that didn’t exist before.
All of these factors combine to make Flood Insurance an important part of protecting one of your most valuable assets.
Where can you go to get Flood Insurance?
There are a couple of options for Flood Insurance.
The National Flood Insurance Program is one of the most common insurance programs that exist. They back a lot of the flood insurance policies that are written through common insurance companies. Even though your policy is written through a normal insurance company, odds are that policy is backed by the NFIP. They have put out a Fact Sheet that gives very valuable information on Flood Insurance.
In recent years there have been several private flood insurance programs that have come about. The Natural Catastrophe Insurance Program is one such but there are several others that provide flood insurance at competitive rates.
We write with several great insurance programs both through the National Flood Insurance Program and through private Flood Insurance Programs. Visit us here to request a quote!