Flood Insurance - Water protection
Unlike a standard homeowner's policy, flood insurance covers losses to your property caused by flooding. Some of the things a standard flood policy will cover include:
- structural damage
- furnace, water heater and air conditioner
- flood debris clean up
- floor surfaces such as carpeting and tile
You can also buy a flood insurance policy to cover the contents of your home, such as furniture, collectibles, clothing, jewelry and artwork.
Policies are available in three forms: Dwelling (most homes), General Property (apartments and businesses), and Residential Condominium Building Association (condominiums).
It's important to know that if you have a federally backed mortgage on a home located in a high-risk area, federal law requires you to purchase flood insurance. Also, if you've received a federal grant for previous flood losses, you must have a flood insurance policy to qualify for future aid.
Buying flood insurance is the best thing you can do to protect your home, business, family, and financial security from a flood.
- When you are a flood insurance policyholder:
- Flood insurance compensates you for all covered losses.
- Coverage is relatively inexpensive.
You can depend on being reimbursed for flood damages, even if the President does not declare a Federal disaster. You do not have to repay a loan, as you might have to with many Federal disaster relief packages. Your covered losses are paid in full. You can count on your claim being paid in the event of a flood loss because NFIP flood insurance is backed by the Federal government.
Your agent can help you handle your claim quickly, so that you will not have to put your life on hold if a flood damages your property. You can even request a partial payment immediately after the flood, which can help you recover even faster.
Its easiest to obtain an online quote and then fill up the online form and buy the policy. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The three components of the NFIP are:
- Flood Insurance
- Floodplain Management
- Flood Hazard Mapping
Nearly 20,000 communities across the United States and its territories participate in the NFIP by adopting and enforcing floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. In exchange, the NFIP makes Federally backed flood insurance available to homeowners, renters, and business owners in these communities. Community participation in the NFIP is voluntary.
Flood insurance is designed to provide an alternative to disaster assistance to reduce the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods. Flood damage is reduced by nearly $1 billion a year through communities implementing sound floodplain management requirements and property owners purchasing of flood insurance. Additionally, buildings constructed in compliance with NFIP building standards suffer approximately 80 percent less damage annually than those not built in compliance.
You can buy flood insurance through most insurance companies. The annual cost for flood coverage can vary from as little as $200, up to $2,000, depending on what FEMA designated flood zone you live in. Coverage for household contents is separate, so renters can also purchase flood insurance. Make sure to purchase flood insurance for the structure of your house, as well as for the contents. Excess Flood Protection, which provides higher limits of coverage than the NFIP in the event of catastrophic loss by flooding, is available from some insurers. Keep in mind that there is a 30-day waiting period before the insurance is valid.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has placed more than 19,000 communities in the United States into a category of flood zones. Each community is able to participate in the agency's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), with premium rates determined by the risks of flooding. To indicate the risks in different parts of the country, FEMA has assigned a character from the alphabet to each zone.
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