Flood Insurance
Flood insurance usually is a separate policy designed to help protect your home and belongings if they are damaged in a flood. Standard property insurance policies, such as homeowners insurance, typically do not cover flood damage.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says you can purchase flood insurance coverage to help protect your home, your personal belongings, or both. Here are some of the basics for these two types of coverage:
Building property coverage
- What it helps protect: The physical structure of your home and its foundation; plumbing and electrical systems; central air and heating systems; attached bookcases, cabinets and paneling; and a detached garage (other detached structures need their own policy).
- How it typically pays out: Replacement cost basis (what it would take to repair the home in today’s dollars) for a primary residence and actual cash value (which factors in depreciation) for a vacation home.
- Maximum coverage limit: $250,000
Personal contents coverage
- What it helps protect: Clothing, furniture and electronics; curtains; some portable appliances; freezers and the foods within them; and certain valuables, like art (up to a specified limit).
- How it typically pays out: Actual cash value basis (takes depreciation into account).
- Maximum coverage limit: $100,000
In some cases, you may be required to have flood insurance. If you own a home on land that is at high risk of flooding, your mortgage lender may require you to purchase flood insurance.
Flood insurance isn’t just for homes in high-risk areas, though. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says that all 50 states have experienced floods, and that more than 20 percent of the claims it handles come from the moderate- to low-risk regions.
Flood insurance is generally available to people in communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Flood insurance policies can be purchased through local insurance agents (such as Allen Insurance and Financial) by homeowners, business owners and renters who want protection for their homes, buildings and belongings. (Landlords can buy separate flood insurance policies to help protect the home.)