The recent heavy rain fall has made even those that do not live in what would traditionally be called flood plains worry about whether or not they have ample flood insurance. Florida has been struck with downpours that have caused water to rise well above what many would consider safe. And even though it is late in the year for hurricanes, impending tropical storms and other monsoon-like events have brought even more rain and water to our shores. It only takes one good, long rain, before just about any Florida home is flooded.
Florida residents are as much as two times as likely to file a flood a claim as those in other states and usually receive up to twice as much for those claims as other states. As in other states, however, home insurance policies do not cover flood—separate insurance is needed, something that many home owners do not realize until they have already experienced a flood and now have to deal with the consequences.
Floods are the most common natural disaster in the country, and in a state like Florida where much of the land is at or even sometimes below sea level, it is extremely common. A flood can be any water that enters your home from the ground—that means water from a heavy rainfall, water from an overflowing creek, or other oversaturation problems can all be floods.
Is there a difference between water damage (which is covered by most Florida home insurance policies) and flood damage? If water accumulates outside of your home and is on the move, it is a flood. Water damage is caused by a burst pipe or other plumbing failure from inside the home.
Those selling flood insurance will almost always tell homeowners about how a flood can strike at any time and without warning, even if those homeowners do not live in a flood plain. This sounds like scare tactics, but the recent rains have proven that this is true. Even those who have lived in the same house for fifty years and have never experienced a flood are seeing the very real threat of this natural disaster this year. Floods cause an average of $42,000 of damage—all of which you could have to pay if you don’t have adequate flood insurance.
