Flood Insurance
The standard homeowners policy coverage does not include incidental loss due to a flood. For some regions, like South Carolina, flood insurance is a necessary addition to protect your home or dwelling from property loss and injuries related to a flood. Flood insurance coverage reimburses you for water damage directly related to flooding that is caused by hurricane storm surges, high tides, natural flooding, and heavy rain.
What is Flood Insurance?
Homeowners living in regions that are at risk for flood should consider adding flood insurance to their homeowners policy to cover certain types of damages related to things like coastal or high inland tides, mudflow, natural flooding damage, and flash floods. Your regular homeowners policy will cover things like water pipes that burst or a flood in your basement related to other causes, but to be fully covered in our area, flood insurance is essential.
What Does Flood Insurance Cover?
Currently, over 90% of all flood insurance policies are both dictated and backed by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the National Flood Insurance Program. Although they’re managed at the federal level, individual policies are purchased through private insurance companies like Abri.
Policies come with varying deductibles and coverage limits. For flood insurance there are two deductibles to consider: building, which pays to rebuild or repair your garage and home, and personal property, which reimburses you for repairs or the replacement of things like furniture, appliances, electronics, and other belongings.
Building Property Coverage
When you purchase flood insurance, it covers any damage to the integrity and structure of your home or dwelling. It may also include outlying buildings, such as a garage or carport. If your home floods, affecting your walls or floors, the coverage will reimburse you to either repair or replace what is damaged.
Flood insurance covers your building including
Built-in appliances
Air conditioning
Cabinets
Electrical and plumbing systems
Your home’s foundation and structure
Water heater and furnace damage
Flood debris clean-up and removal
Personal Property Coverage
This addition to flood insurance will also cover any personal property that is damaged during a flood, including your belongings. It will reimburse you for any costs related to repairs or replacements.
Things that are covered by flood insurance
- Furniture
- Clothing
- Electronics
- Portable appliances
- Freezers
- Washer and dryers
- Artwork, jewelry, watches, and furs
- Air conditioning window units
Flood insurance will cover collectables and valuables, but there is a special limit of liability attached to the policy of a standard $2,500 for an NFIP policy. Your insurance carrier will reimburse you up to a maximum of $2,500 with your regular policy. Since just one piece of jewelry can cost upwards of well past that minimum, insuring your home with flood insurance is critical in our area.
Private insurance supplied through Abri often offers coverage that is above the independent NFIP, which is more comprehensive and offers a higher policy limit for repairs and replacement costs.
What Flood Insurance Does NOT Cover
If a flood originates in the home, then it is not covered through a flood insurance policy. So if you have a pipe leak or if your sump pump fails, flood insurance will not be responsible.
Things that are also not covered are
Cash
Precious metals
Plants and trees
Hot tubs and pools
Fences
Decks and patios
Do I Need Flood Insurance?
Often, a homeowner is unsure whether the addition of flood insurance is worth the cost. Since flood insurance is not required by law, it is up to the individual to decide if they want to add it. The following is a list of reasons that you should invest in flood insurance
- Your home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, which comes with the highest risk for flooding conditions
- Your mortgage is federally insured through the VA or FHA or is backed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae
- Your home resides in an NFIP-participating community. Over 22,000 communities are a part of the National Flood Protection Program
When you purchase flood insurance, it will require a flood elevation certificate if you live in a high-risk zone. The evaluation will help to determine your home’s individual risk for flood. Even if your mortgage company does not require it, it is a good thing to consider. Just a single inch of standing water can lead to as much as $25,000 in damage on the low end, according to FEMA.
At Abri Insurance, our mission is to identify and address your home’s individual risk based on all factors in our region. Flood insurance is not currently mandated, but that does not mean that you should not purchase it, especially in South Carolina. Contact us today to discuss whether flood insurance is a worthwhile investment to protect you.