Flood Insurance

What if your home had significant water damage and you did not have flood insurance?

The damage caused to a home from water can be devastating, and in most cases water damage is not covered by homeowners insurance. Flood and other water-related damage is a common exclusion in almost every home insurance policy. 
 

Here are some facts to help you better understand how flood/water damage can affect you, and steps you can take to protect your property:

 
One definition of flood is “normally dry areas which have temporarily been covered in whole or in part by overflowing inland or tidal waters, rapid run off of surface waters (such as heavy rains), mud flows or slides, or waters present due to the collapse of shores.”

Whether you live near a body of water or not, every home lies in a flood zone and has the risk of experiencing a flood. Many flood related claims are miles from the nearest body of water.  Floods can be triggered by heavy rains, hurricanes, melting snow, and water backup – often from overloaded drainage systems, or dam failure.
 
While flood damage is not covered by homeowners insurance, you can protect yourself with the purchase of a flood insurance policy from MemberHaven.  If your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, a government administered program to help keep flood insurance rates low, you can buy flood insurance regardless of where your property is located, whether it is in a high or low flood risk area. Flood insurance rates are set by the NFIP.

 

Newly issued flood policies have a 30-day waiting period, so don’t delay and wait for the next storm before deciding to purchase a policy.