Don't get caught under water

According to FEMA, homeowners have a 26% chance of experiencing a flood loss during the life of their 30 year mortgage.  There is a greater chance of flood than of most other perils that homeowners do insure against, yet many do not buy flood coverage.  We all know that homeowners insurance will provide coverage in the event of a fire, but many people do not realize is that coverage for flood needs to be purchased through a separate policy. 

Every spring, insurance companies and agents are flooded with phone calls about basements filling with water.  Most homeowners have been through it before: a week of rainy weather and all of the sudden there is water seeping through our foundation; the spring thaw has finally arrived and is suddenly a foot of water in your basement.  Is it covered?

A standard homeowners policy excludes Water; there are a lot of things that go into this water exclusion, but one of them is that there is no coverage for flood, surface water, or water that seeps into a building.  This means that the policy is eliminating coverage for most of these common water issues that homeowners run into.  What is the solution?

While it is nearly impossible to insure every cause of loss that a homeowner may encounter, there are some things we can do to help protect your property.  For example, if you have a working sump pump, many insurance companies have an endorsement available that will give back some coverage for water if it is too much for the sump pump to keep up with.   These endorsements vary from company to company, so it is important to review your individual situation with your agent. 

Another important piece of protecting your property is buying flood insurance. The term “Flood” is officially defined by FEMA as “A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties.” Every property is located in a flood zone. If you are located outside of the 100 year flood plain, that means that you have a 1% chance of experiencing a flood each year. There have been several severe floods in Central Massachusetts over the past couple years.  In many of these cases, the affected properties were not in high risk flood zones and had never experienced flooding.  Unfortunately, many property owners were without insurance coverage.  In most cases, disaster assistance that is provided comes in the form of a loan that needs to be paid back with interest, which will not indemnify you for a loss like a flood insurance policy would.

There is a 30 day wait period to put coverage for a new flood policy into effect.  It is important to be proactive and talk to your agent about your exposures before a loss occurrs to make sure you are protected.  For more information, please give us a call at 800-891-1226.