Flood Insurance Myths
Earlier this summer, we had a lot of rain in North Texas. We even broke some records because of the rainfall we had! With all of the rain, there comes issues that are out of the norm for our area. Flooding is a big concern and it is not covered under your homeowner’s insurance.
What is a Flood?
When we talk about flood, we’re talking about rising water, surface runoff water that comes from rain or broken pipes outside or your home, think water main break. Flood is not covered under any homeowner’s insurance policy. You do have to purchase a separate flood insurance policy to cover that. Pipes breaking inside of your home, toilets overflowing, sudden accidental discharge from a water, heating or air conditioning device — these things are covered under most home insurance policies. You can learn more about flood insurance on our previous blog: What is Flood Insurance and Why Do You Need It?
Flood Insurance Myths
There are a lot of myths and misinformation regarding flood:
- You must live in a flood zone in order to cover flood insurance.
That is not true. Anyone can purchase flood insurance. You do not have to live in a flood zone. As a matter of fact, FEMA says that everyone in North America lives in a flood zone, even if it may not be a floodplain. Even if you live in an area that isn’t a floodplain, you could be subject to flooding, such as a water main breaks and flood several properties. In our area, recently there were concerns that a dam may breech. Many residents in the area weren’t even aware of the dam. If that dam were to breach, many properties would have flooded. Typically, if you’re not in a high flood zone, flood insurance is cheap ($300-$400/year.) It does have its own deductible. - If just my property floods…
If your swimming pool overflows and you do not backwash it quickly enough and it floods into your home, that is not covered under the homeowner’s policy or flood insurance policy. That is surface runoff water. The definition of a flood is two or more properties or two or more acres of water. So, even if you do purchase flood insurance and your pool overflows and floods your home, that will not be covered.
Purchase Flood Insurance
At Hanby, we offer private and government-backed FEMA flood insurance policies. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Hanby helps!