Flood insurance?

[kb4ns]

Ok, so I'm seeing all this flooding and it has me wondering if I should consider flood insurance. From what (little) I know, your regular homeowner insurance won't cover flooding and you must obtain flood insurance from the gov't. What about this flash flooding that happens in places that are not "flood risk areas" or "flood plains" or whatever you wanna call 'em? Are those affected just out of luck?

I can't ever imagine my house flooding due to its location. But in the last two days, I've seen many houses flooded that I would never have guessed would have seen flood waters. What think ye?

[VolunteerGuns]

They say its very reasonable $$$, if your not on a flood plain. If flooding is even a remote possibility..... Well, might be worth considering.

I personally live on one heck of a hill, so not really a concern here.

[G27]

Neither of my houses in a flood-zone, but we carry flood insurance on both - it only costs a couple hundred dollars/year, and your insurance won't pay you a dome if your house floods and you don't have it...

[MCSCOTT]

I'm not 100% sure how all of the insurance companies are, but it should also be noted that flood insurance can be good for situations other than these kind as well. I've got a friend who had a major water leak in his finished basement while they were out of town, and it completely ruined the walls and flooring, not to mention furniture and everything else in their basement. If I remember right alot of regular homeowners insurance wont cover this type of flooding either.

[G27]

I'm not 100% sure how all of the insurance companies are, but it should also be noted that flood insurance can be good for situations other than these kind as well. I've got a friend who had a major water leak in his finished basement while they were out of town, and it completely ruined the walls and flooring, not to mention furniture and everything else in their basement. If I remember right alot of regular homeowners insurance wont cover this type of flooding either.

Not sure if flood insurance will, either - every policy I've ever seen defined a flood as water on two adjacent properties. Worth talking to your insurance agent about...

[MCSCOTT]

Not sure if flood insurance will, either - every policy I've ever seen defined a flood as water on two adjacent properties. Worth talking to your insurance agent about...

Yeah, like I said I'm not sure how different insurance companies define their coverage, but it's definately worth talking to them about just to see what situations you're covered for.

[gregintenn]

Just got off the phone with my insurance guy. He wasn't interested in selling flood insurance today.

[G27]

Just got off the phone with my insurance guy. He wasn't interested in selling flood insurance today.

Hahaha, nice timing.

[kb4ns]

Just got off the phone with my insurance guy. He wasn't interested in selling flood insurance today.

Lol. What about boat insurance? I might need to buy a boat...

[peejman]

You're not safe if you live on a hill, unless you live at the top. A former coworker lived on the side of a mountain. Heavy rains caused a 10 ft retaining wall adjacent to his house/driveway to collapse. The resulting mud slide knocked down his garage doors and deposited about 2ft of muck in his basement.

His insurance (Farm Bureau) refused to pay claiming it was flood damage. They did replace his roof and 3 windows that were damaged by hail in the same storm, then promptly cancelled his policy.

[Volzfan]

My parents home is off of Edmonson Pk and their yard are a strong rushing river thru this flood. It got into their garage but stopped a foot from getting into the living area. We have a real mess to clean up in the garage but they could have been so much worse.

They are in a flood plain and they pay just under $1000 a year on a property that is about $125K. I have to make a call to the insurance agent this morning.

They will need to pay for a washer, dryer, refrigerator, HVAC repair and repair the duct work plus the cleanup in the garage.

The water was rushing so strong that the neighbor to their left had their large heat/air unit ripped off of the house and carried about 75 yards down stream and it is in the back yard of a neighbor.

[Guest HexHead]

I'm not 100% sure how all of the insurance companies are, but it should also be noted that flood insurance can be good for situations other than these kind as well. I've got a friend who had a major water leak in his finished basement while they were out of town, and it completely ruined the walls and flooring, not to mention furniture and everything else in their basement. If I remember right alot of regular homeowners insurance wont cover this type of flooding either.

If you have something that's been a problem for a while, like a rusted pipe or has been an ongoing issue you won't be covered by your homeowners policy. If it's a sudden discharge, like a hose to the washing machine burst, then your homeowners insurance will cover the damage. As always, read your policy for coverages and exclusions.