How Do You Know If You Need Flood Insurance?
Whether a homeowner needs flood insurance isn’t always a decision that’s left up to them. For example, if you buy a property located in a high-risk flood zone or floodplain, as defined by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and you are receiving a government-backed home loan, you will be required to have flood insurance. Even if your home is outside a high-risk flood area, some lenders make getting flood coverage a requirement before they will approve your loan. However, in many other cases, the choice to get flood insurance is left up to the homeowner, and very often it is overlooked as an important coverage to consider. Every year, though, flooding is one of the most frequent and costly disasters to affect homeowners and their properties, and the number of flood events is only expected to escalate as the climate warms, precipitation levels increase, and sea level rises. If you want to have peace of mind that you have financial protection for your property and belongings against a potential flood event, the Bearingstar team believes a flood policy is one of the most critical coverages you can invest in.
Why Should You Consider Flood Insurance?
Your property may be hours from the closest lake or ocean, but that doesn’t mean it lacks flood risk. In fact, just about every one of us lives in an area with some level of flood risk because anywhere there is rainfall, snow melt, or ice and hail, there is a chance for flooding to occur. This is why we encourage you to speak with your local insurance professional as soon as possible to find out more about flood insurance. For a little added motivation, we thought we would provide you with five very simple (yet significant) reasons why it’s crucial to start this conversation with your agent sooner rather than later.
1. About 25% of all flood claims come from areas with a low-to-moderate flood risk.
2. Just one inch of water in a home can add up to more than $25,000 in damage.
3. In high-risk areas, there is at least a one-in-four chance of flooding over the course of a 30-year mortgage.
4. A home’s flood risk often changes over time due to weather patterns, land development, and erosion.
5. Over the past four years, the Atlantic has produced some of the most hyperactive hurricane seasons in history—and hurricanes are one of the main culprits of severe flooding.
Even with these startling flood facts, some homeowners may think there’s no need to explore flood insurance options. After all, federal disaster assistance will be made available to them if their community experiences flooding, right? Actually, it’s important to know that most flood events do not result in federal aid. And, if flooding in your area does lead to this type of aid, it’s usually distributed in the form of loans that must be repaid—with interest. In addition, the aid per household is typically not nearly sufficient to help homeowners fully rebuild their houses or replace their lost belongings.
With flood insurance, on the other hand, there’s no one to pay back and your policy may provide you with financial resources to help you restore your property to its pre-disaster condition.
Bearingstar Is Here to Help You Navigate Your Flood Insurance Choices
Whether you’re buying a new policy or renewing an existing one, we’re happy to help you investigate the options that are right for you. The flood insurance marketplace now includes products from private flood insurance companies as well as coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program. We will walk you through your flood policy details, coverage amounts, and any applicable deductibles, limits, or exclusions so that you fully understand what is and isn’t covered by flood insurance.
When you work with Bearingstar, you partner with a professional and local agent who will help you identify risky coverage gaps and find products, like flood insurance, that may better protect your distinct property and the belongings in it. For assistance with a flood policy and other critical home insurance coverages, please contact a member of our Massachusetts team by calling 877-801-7424 or a Connecticut Bearingstar professional by calling 888-519-9996. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you find the best personal insurance coverages to protect what’s most important to you.
Sources:
- Why buy flood insurance. Floodsmart.
https://www.floodsmart.gov/why-buy-flood-insurance - All about flood maps. Floodsmart.
https://www.floodsmart.gov/all-about-flood-maps - 2023 Atlantic hurricane season ranks 4th for most-named storms in a year. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/2023-atlantic-hurricane-season-ranks-4th-for-most-named-storms-in-year