Monday, May 21, 2012

Why get flood insurance?

Spring starts the rainy season in Texas.  We often see tropical storms and hurricanes hit the gulf coast areas, as well as strong wind and hail storms in North Texas.  Many people feel safe from floods living in the Dallas Metroplex because we don't see a lot of flooding, and because we're located so far from the coast.  Yet, flood insurance can be a great protection against damage to your most valuable asset - your home.

According to FEMA, although only 20% of all US homeowners at risk of flooding have flood insurance, 96% have fire insurance.  Yet, people living in a typical flood plain have a 26% chance of flooding over the 30-year life of a mortgage, while only 9% will experience a fire.  (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/reports/FEMA3.html)

A lot of people assume that their standard homeowners insurance covers floods from storms, but it doesn't.  You must purchase flood insurance typically underwritten by FEMA to provide coverage against storm flooding.  The federal government has a great resource for information at http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/

No comments:

Post a Comment