Flood Damage – Are You Covered?
You may think a flood can never happen to you, so you may think that you don’t need insurance coverage for floods. Or, you may simply not know if your insurance covers floods or not. Well, now is an excellent time to find out why you may need coverage and how you can find out if you have it or not.
Floods have always been an unwelcome surprise, and sometimes floods can happen where you don’t expect them to. Even in landlocked areas that are currently in a drought. The Atlanta, Georgia area, which is a good 4 hour drive from the shore, was considered to be in a drought when floods ravaged whole subdivisions and forced entire sections of the highway to be closed off late in September, 2009. It was a disaster, with too many lives lost and too much damage, with some estimates saying the damage is over $250 million. At this point, we can only be thankful that more people weren’t affected.
Seeking a way to protect yourself from a flood is definitely a good idea, but your options may be limited, and it is not in the scope of this article. However, the next best thing, and a great complementary option, is to make sure that your insurance covers flooding and water damage. Unfortunately, most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover water damage from flooding, but there is the possibility that yours might. It’s never a bad idea to call your insurance company and ask. If they do not cover flood damage in your coverage plan, ask if there is one that does cover flood damage. If not, then it might be time to look for a separate flood insurance, such as FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (or NFIP), or another homeowner’s insurance provider that does offer flood insurance.
It’s easy to overlook flood insurance, or to assume that your standard homeowner’s insurance covers it. Always make sure that you’re covered if there is even the slightest chance of a flood occurring in your area. If you live near any body of water, or really anywhere but a dessert, then there is most likely at least a very slight chance that you could be flooded one day.
A flood is so devastatingly damaging that it’s best to be covered.
Steve McDowell is a freelance writer who’s curiosity about security technology had led him into in-depth research about a variety of security and safety related topics. Steve has recently been working on Total Home Security (http://www.totalhomesecurity.com). How safe is your home? Steve McDowell wants to know. Do you?
