Worried About Flooding? What You Should Know About Flood Insurance Protection

Whether you are a homeowner or a renter, it's important that you understand the basics of flood damage and insurance protection. With so much news coverage in recent years about weather patterns causing flooding and disasters across the country, the more you understand, the better. Here are some things you need to know about protecting your investments when it comes to flood damage.

Your Standard Insurance Won't Cover It

You might think you don't need to worry about separate flood damage insurance because you already have homeowner's or renter's insurance. However, if you look closely at the policy declaration for these types of insurance, you'll find that these policies don't cover flood damage. In fact, many explicitly exclude flood damage of all sorts from their policy protections.

As a result, you need to invest in a separate flood insurance policy if you want to protect your investment. If you buy a home that's in a flood plain, you may actually be required by your mortgage company to carry a flood insurance policy.

Your Insurance Agent Can Help You

Flood insurance is different from traditional insurance policies because the National Flood Insurance Program guarantees protection from the federal government. Of course, you can buy flood coverage through your insurance agent, however, many homeowners use this federal program.

Emergency Services Funds Aren't Enough

You might think that you don't need to worry about flood insurance because you can get help from the federal emergency programs in the event of a flood. The truth is that those funds are only made available if a federal disaster is declared in that area, and usually flooding situations don't result in that type of declaration. That means that most floods aren't protected by any kind of federal funding. Your flood insurance is the only means of protection you will have.

You Don't Have To Be In A Flood Plain

You might think that you can only get flood insurance if you're in a flood plain and required to carry it. However, you can get flood insurance no matter where you live. You can get flood protection for your possessions if you are a renter, and many homeowners get this insurance in order to protect their interests in the event of a flooding problem.

Talk with a insurance company today about your flood insurance options. Your agent can help you explore the coverage options you can pick from.

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