Do You Need Flood Insurance?

Prevention is often the best way to save money

The time is now to check for flood insurance before the waters start to rise. A lesson from the last hurricane, monsoon season is that many people can’t afford to be without flood insurance. Are you one of them?

Floods are not always caused by nature. Melting snow, leaky roofs and busted pipes and more are frequent cause of home flooding . Does you home insurance policy include flood insurance?

I recently had a pipe burst inside the wall between the upstairs bathroom and downstairs kitchen. We had to replace most of the kitchen ceiling plus plumbing and our coverage for that was good but the next month when we had proof leak around an exhaust pipe we had no coverage at all! The time to talk to your insurance agent is before the flood!

“Many people incorrectly assume that regular homeowners insurance covers damage done by floods or rising waters. They don’t realize until it is too late that all basic homeowners insurance policies exclude flood,” says Terry McConnell of Erie Insurance Group. “Only flood insurance will cover losses in the event of a flood.”

Flood insurance is available solely through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). There is a 30-day waiting period for the policy to go into effect. Act now before the next storm season

FEMA reports that nearly 25 percent of flood insurance claims come from properties considered at low or moderate risk of flooding. Floods and flash floods occur in all 50 states and most people live or work in areas that have some risk of flooding. Even if you do not live in a high-risk area, flood insurance is a good idea.