Flood Insurance
There are many risks that people are accustomed to insuring
against. These will include, health insurance, auto insurance
and fire insurance. There are others that are less familiar,
such as dental and flood insurance but there are many reasons
why you should reassess the insurances you currently have in
place and perhaps consider relocating them to cover the risks
that you are most afraid of experiencing.
For example, did you know that losses due to floods are thirty
times more likely to occur than fire losses? This is especially
true if your home is located in a flood prone zone. While flood
loss is generally less devastating than fire loss, if your home
is located in a flood prone zone, the chance of even
experiencing catastrophic damage is still 25% greater from flood
than from fire.
Flood loss
Most basic home insurance policies do not automatically include
flood loss as standard. Commercial property policies are the
same, with flood loss only being covered if it is specifically
mentioned in the policy. If the flood is extremely severe, it
may be classified as a disaster site by the federal government.
This will cause some protection to be made available in the form
of loans. These loans, which come through the Federal Emergency
Management Assistance program, are not like insurance however,
as you are required to pay back the loan that they give you, as
well as any other home loans you already have. They will also
require you to carry flood insurance in the future. The other
thing about the Federal Emergency Management Assistance program
is that it only kicks in if your area and flood are declared a
federal disaster site. This can be fairly rare when compared to
the amount of floods that are experienced annually.
Flood insurance will be offered by various insurance companies
but should be backed by the National Flood Insurance Program.
This type of coverage, which is supported and regulated by the
federal government, is the only type of flood insurance that
will fully protect your home and contents from rising water
flood insurance.
Shop Around
If you are considering taking out a policy of this kind, shop
around for the best rate and find out what is covered and what
is excluded. It may be that a specific company's exclusion is
exactly the situation in which you require coverage and other
companies may not have the same exclusion so you are wise to
shop around. Also, all insurance companies vary in what they
offer and what they charge. Do not accept the first offer or
quote you receive and do not expect all companies to provide the
same deals. You should always shop around when it comes to
insurance and find yourself the best deal available.