Flood Insurance

If you live in a flood-prone area, your home faces a substantial risk of property damage due to flooding. And while standard home insurance might provide coverage for household water damage resulting from a burst pipe or similar incident, your home insurance won’t cover damage caused by floods. Depending on your home’s location, your need for flood insurance could be significant. Contact our agency today to discuss your flood insurance needs.

What Are My Flood Insurance Options?

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) underwrites most flood insurance. If your community participates in the NFIP, you may be able to purchase an NFIP plan. Usually, you can buy NFIP plans through a major insurer or the NFIP Direct system.

NFIP plans must comply with federally established standards. There are two types of coverage: structure insurance, which protects your house, and contents coverage, which insures your possessions. There may also be coverage for debris removal costs, loss avoidance and cost of compliance.

You may be able to receive compensation for your losses and reduce your flood recovery costs by filing a claim on your flood insurance plan. Flood insurance doesn’t usually take effect until 30 days after purchase. However, if your lender requires that you have flood insurance to make, increase, extend or renew your loan, then there’s no waiting period.

Who Needs Flood Insurance?

Many homeowners must buy flood insurance if they live in a designated high-risk flood zone or have a mortgage backed by a federally insured lender.

Some lenders may require their mortgage holders to purchase flood insurance regardless of living in a high-risk zone. In addition, coverage is necessary if you live in a high-risk flood zone and have ever received disaster assistance through FEMA or the U.S. Small Business Administration.

How to Get Flood Insurance

Flood insurance can help financially protect you against the dangers of having your house flooded. Without it, you will need to pay flood-related damages out-of-pocket, which can be expensive. Contact Leahy & Brown Insurance today to learn more about flood insurance.