DISCLAIMER: This is only a brief overview of general coverage issues. Actual coverage is determined by the coverage terms, definitions, and exclusions in each individual insurance policy.
Incorrect Assumptions About Flood Insurance
Don't Make a Costly Mistake!
Many people make one of 5 incorrect assumptions about flood insurance.
Those incorrect assumptions are as follows:
- The standard insurance policies cover flood. Wrong Virtually all standard personal and commercial insurance policies exclude damage from “flood, surface water, waves, tides, tidal waves, overflow of any body of water, or their spray, all whether driven by wind or not”
- The risk of flood is low. Wrong. The average property is 4 times more likely to flood than to incur a fire.
- Only people in flood plains need insurance. Wrong. The National Flood Insurance Program estimates that 25 percent of flood losses occur outside high-risk areas.
- The government will reimburse people who suffer flood damage. Wrong. Most government assistance to flood victims is in the form of loans, not grants.
- The premiums are too high. Wrong. The government has had to subsidize the National Flood Insurance Program because the premiums it charges haven’t been adequate to cover the claims it pays.
Don’t bet everything you own that you’ll never be flooded. Regardless of your location, you should at least request quotes from the National Flood Insurance Program for your home and your business. Your NIE representative will be happy to coordinate the request for your business.