Severe storms can attack certain regions routinely, which is why it's wise to carry flood insurance in such areas. Many homeowners assume flood coverage is part of the standard homeowners insurance plan, but it's not. You need to add coverage to your standard plan in order to ensure your property is insured for flooding. Here's your brief guide to insurance for flood damage to help you evaluate your policy.
Insurance for Rain Damage
When homeowners fail to review their homeowner policy to see if it includes flood insurance, they run the risk of putting it off until it's too late. While every insurance agency designs its own policy parameters, it's common for a basic homeowners plan to provide coverage for just core essentials. This coverage includes liability, property damage and bodily injury. You might already have insurance for rain damage, but it's set to a certain payout limit, such as $100,000. If you want full coverage, you need to increase your monthly premium.
About 90 percent of all natural disasters in America relate to flooding, according to a recent paper Publisheded by Triple-I. Scientists such as Dr. Rick Knabb of the Weather Channel have warned that wherever there's rain there exists potential for flooding. A study by large corporate consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found that a majority of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico residents lacked flood insurance.
Meanwhile, a study by nonprofit researcher First Street Foundation found that nearly 6 million property owners are unaware of flood risks and the potential for complete property devastation.
The lack of flood insurance coverage across the nation is alarming but understandable during economic uncertainty. Some people are getting squeezed by the rising cost of living while income stagnates, leading to cutting corners on things like insurance. Many people tune out insurance coverage because they view it as an unnecessary expense until a disaster occurs.
What Happens When You Don't Have Flood Insurance
If you experience a flood without supplemental insurance to your homeowners policy, it can mean the beginning of a long financial disaster. Flood damage is something you cannot ignore, but if it's not written in your policy, you'll be paying for repair work out of your own pocket. The longer you wait to fix the damage, the more cracks and leaks will expand, creating worse vulnerabilities.
Whether you are avoiding flood insurance to save money or you just assume it's part of your policy already, it's imperative to know what's at stake before a disaster occurs. You might have nice rare belongings that are too precious to sell, only to see them get wiped out by a flood.
To make sure every valuable possession you own is covered, make a list of your items and submit it to your insurance agent to keep on file. Ask the agent about each item on the list to ensure everything is covered. If not, find out what you need to do to get the appropriate coverage. You can get flood coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is overseen by FEMA.
Many residents in states where hurricanes and other natural disasters have created massive damage in recent years have learned the hard way why flood insurance is so important. Several New Jersey homeowners who lacked flood insurance, for example, had to deal with costly flooded basement disasters in August 2011.
Following this guide to insurance for flood damage can prepare you to limit bad news in an extreme storm. The team at Little & Sons Insurance Services are still in operation and are eager to find every homeowner an affordable
home insurance policy they need. Get peace of mind by contacting our professionals, serving Banning and neighboring cities in California.
