According to FEMA, flooding causes more destruction and devastation than any other natural disaster in the United States. Floods leave behind billions of dollars in damage each year, destroying homes, property, and personal belongings. When hurricane season comes around, homeowners always have a heightened awareness of the devastation flooding can cause, but it doesn’t take a hurricane to cause flooding. A heavy rainstorm, high/king tides, or storm surge can often leave many wishing they had been more prepared, both financially and physically.
Chris Templeton of Morris & Templeton Insurance
The first step in getting prepared is to get educated. Do you have homeowners' insurance? Did you know flooding is, generally, not covered by a standard homeowner, condo, or renters insurance policy? Instead, those policies typically help safeguard you from water damage when it comes to either a burst pipe or a hole in your roof, not a natural disaster.
Rising waters can be more damaging than you think, impacting both your structure and the contents in it. Remember the three F’s, flooring, furniture, and fixtures. Those are three items difficult to take with you if you evacuate, but can easily be ruined by floods. Coverage for both your building and your personal belongings are actually sold separately. While your house is covered for replacement cost, personal property protection is generally available on an actual cash value basis only.
A very common question asked is, “Am I at risk for flooding?” FEMA updates its flood maps annually, and because of that, this question is ever-changing. Factors like weather patterns, construction, and land use can cause your property to go from a low-risk flood zone to a high-risk flood zone, or vice versa. These maps are aimed at helping mortgage companies decide if flood insurance is required for a loan and help gauge how much your insurance agent charges you for flood insurance. Even if the maps show that you don’t live in a high-risk flood zone, you are still in danger of flooding. Surprisingly, on average, 20 percent of all flood claims are filed in a low to moderate risk flood area.
Morris & Templeton
The second step you should take is to actually make the investment in flood insurance. This protects your assets most fully from the cost of flood damage and devastation. The Insurance Information Institute found that only 15 percent of homeowners had flood insurance in 2018. For the additional 85 percent of homeowners, if a flood had impacted their home and belongings, relief from that devastation would have come in the form of loans. When your community is declared a disaster area, no-interest or low-interest loans are usually made available by the federal government to help with recovery efforts. But remember these loans have to be paid back. So you’re still held liable for the entire cost of your loss or damages.
Plan ahead. When you’ve decided that flood insurance is a must, it’s good to note that there is a 30-day waiting period before the insurance policy takes effect. So don’t wait until a hurricane has been declared to take action, do so now.
Central Insurance Companies
If this leaves you asking whether you need flood insurance, then now is the time to give your local insurance experts a call. Stay above water with Morris & Templeton Insurance. Our agents will help give you a personal look at what your home needs, and give you the peace of mind and protection you need. Contact the office at 912.355.4549 or visit morristempleton.com
Written for Elegant Island Living by Chris Templeton, Morris & Templeton Insurance
