Flood Insurance or Not?

With the recent floods in Texas and Florida, we’ve been getting inquires about flood insurance.   Here’s a general guide on how to choose:

Home Owner Insurance:

• Covers internally generated water damage: pipe bursts, water leaks, washer leaks
• Deductible applies from homeowner policy
• Extra protection may be added to cover basements, sumps etc.
• Many policies cover water damage from outside sources if damage occurred from something other than water (such as a falling tree on your roof).
• Statistic:  Nearly 80% of homes impacted in Hurricane Harvey (Houston 2017) did not have flood insurance.

Flood Insurance:

• Specifically covers damage caused from external water sources: such as flooded areas caused by natural conditions (rain), runoff water, water erosion.
• May need to add coverage for man-made external source, such as a levee breach.
• Usually does not cover damage from landslides
• Should be added if your home/property is on a flood plain or flood risk zone.
• Consider add if your home is NEAR a flood plain or flood risk zone.  Often flooded areas extend past the flood boundaries in “50 year” storm scenarios.
• If your home is damaged from a flood and the area is marked for emergency funds, FEMA caps out at $33,300
• Statistic: nearly 20 percent of national flood insurance claims come from low- to moderate-risk flood zones.

Check here to see FEMA Flood Zone Areas  , find your home, then select “View Web Map” to see the current flood zones.