Do you own a home or a business? If so, you must know these facts about flood insurance. Without flood insurance, you a taking a huge gamble on your house and its contents. Every homeowner or business owner is at risk until they are protected with flood insurance.
The Facts
Everyone lives in a flood zone.
You don't have to live near water to be in a flood zone. Floods can be caused by storms, melting snow, hurricanes, water backup due to inadequate or overloaded infrastructure systems, and dam or levee failures.
Flood damage is not covered by your homeowners or renters policies.
Through the National Flood Insurance Program, you can protect your home or business for up to $250,000 and up to $100,000 for its contents.
You can buy insurance no matter what your flood risk is.
As long as your community participates in the NFIP, you can buy insurance, regardless if your property is in a high- or low-risk flood zone. 20-25% of all flood insurance claims come from low-risk areas.
The low-cost Preferred Risk Policy is ideal for owners in low- to moderate-risk areas.
Homeowners can insure buildings and contents for as little as $111 per year. Business owners can insure buildings and contents for as little as $900 per year. Residential renters can insure contents for as little as $19 per year.
Flood insurance is affordable and easy to get.
The average flood insurance policy costs little more than $400/year for coverage of up to $100,000 and is available through private insurance companies and agents.
Content coverage is separate, so renters can insure their belongings too.
Up to $100,000 coverage for contents is available for homeowners and renters. Remember to ask your agent about it; unless you are covered by the Preferred Risk Policy, contents coverage is not automatically included.
Up to a total of $1mil of flood insurance coverage is available for non-residential buildings and its contents.
A building and its contents can each be covered up to $500,000.
Expect a 30-day waiting period before coverage goes into effect.
Plan ahead when implementing insurance policies.
Federal disaster relief is not the answer!
Flood insurance pays, regardless if a flood is declared a disaster.