When Home Insurance is Not Enough: Home Flood Insurance Benefits

No matter how many times it's been said, it's worth saying again: homeowner's insurance does NOT cover flood damage: you MUST have flood insurance. The days are gone when flooding only occurred in certain areas, today more than ever before, every homeowner regardless of where they live should have a level of flood insurance coverage.

Water is one of Mother Nature's most powerful elements; it only takes a few inches of water to wreak thousands of dollars worth of damage on a structure. That structure could be your home or your business and you could lose it all if you do not have adequate flood insurance protection. Home flood insurance is called "single peril' insurance, a policy sold separately to provide coverage when flooding results from blacked storm drainage systems, levee dam failure, excessive or prolonged rains, coastal storm system or snow melt. This is the insurance you must have to be protected from losses of your home and its contents.

The area that is most prone to flooding are called "floodplains' but flood insurance is available for any area of the United States; your flood insurance policy is determined by your property's flood risk as it is shown on the flood hazard maps.

Home owners, who live in a high-risk area, should purchase a Standard Policy; buying flood insurance will be required before loan approval if you purchase a home is this type of area. The cost of flood insurance decreases in level with the risk, for less than $200 a year homeowners can have a Preferred Risk policy to protect their home and its contents.

With the changing weather patterns that have been experienced in the last 5 years in the United States, it should be clear to every homeowner that flood insurance is no longer a luxury; a water pipe that bursts in your basement can do just as much damage as a heavy rain. Homeowners who live adjacent to flood plain areas are aware that large floods often extend beyond those areas.

Home flood insurance is sold by private insurers and is guaranteed by the US government. You should be able to obtain a referral for a flood insurance agent from your home insurance company. The National Flood Insurance Program sets the price for this policy: this insurance coverage has a standard rate wherever it is purchased and it covers both homes and businesses. If you want to completely protect your home, you must have home flood insurance.