Is my home covered by flood insurance?

03 Oct Is my home covered by flood insurance?

Is my home covered by flood insurance?  The short answer is probably not.  This year has been a bad year for flooding.  North Carolina recently had Hurricane Florence wreak devastation and now Arizona is fighting Tropical Storm Rosa.  Unfortunately, many homeowners do not know their homeowner’s insurance policy probably does not cover flooding.  A 2016 poll conducted by the Insurance Information Institute found only 12% of American homeowners have flood insurance in their policies.  The Midwest was lower than the national average at 8%.  Compounding the crisis, many of those affected will drastically overestimate the governmental aid they will receive.

Unfortunately, in Missouri and Illinois, we are no strangers to flooding, which is especially true if your home is in a FEMA designated flood zone.  FEMA produced an excellent video explaining how government-backed flood insurance works here.  These policies cost around $600 per year for low risk homes and several thousand for homes closer to areas that experience periodic flooding.

The worst feeling in the world would be to lose all your possessions and your home to flooding and then finding out that your homeowners insurance does not cover flooding.  If you find out your home may be at risk for flooding, I urge you to consider purchasing flood insurance.