What is flood insurance? Do I need flood insurance? I don’t live in a flood zone, so therefore I don’t need it, right? How do I know if I am in a flood zone? Am I covered on my homeowner’s insurance policy for flood? Where do I purchase flood insurance? Is it expensive to insure my home and belongings in the event of a flood? As insurance agents we at The Bob Hart Agency hear these questions all the time. I am here to let you know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully this article will help you understand a little more about flood insurance and direct you to the best source for those answers.
To understand flood insurance, you need to know what the definition of flood is and as defined by ready.gov, flooding is a temporary overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. There are many possible causes of floods including heavy rain or snowmelt, coastal storms and storm surge, waterway overflow from being blocked with debris or ice or overflow of levees, dams, or waste water systems. Flooding can occur slowly over many days or happen very quickly with little or no warning, called flash floods (Ready.gov).
Many of us may think that a flood will never happen to me and besides I don’t live in a flood zone, so why do I need to worry. The truth is we all live in a flood zone. There are different types of risks which get divided up into zones. These zones have been laid out by FEMA or the Federal Emergency Management Agency and can be found on their webpage, www.fema.gov. Now, regardless to where you live you may want to consider flood insurance since more than 20 percent of flood claims happen outside a high-risk flood zone. Flooding is the most common natural disaster in the United States and it affects all of us (FEMA.gov, n.d.). Typically, this is not something that is covered on your home, renters, or landlord policies and must be purchased separately.
If what you have read so far has struck up other questions for you, please call us for more information or visit the websites www.fema.gov and www.ready.gov. The FEMA website has laid out most of these proposed questions and with a few clicks you can be on your way to understanding your own personal flood risk. As always, The Bob Hart Agency, is here to answer any questions you have and we hope that you will take some time to educate yourself on this subject.
