Understanding Flood Insurance: Protecting Your Home from Financial Devastation
Protecting your home from the unexpected is a crucial part of being a homeowner, especially when it comes to floods. Many people mistakenly assume that their standard home insurance policy covers flood damage, only to find out later that they are not protected.
With floods occurring even outside designated flood zones, the risk is real, particularly in flood-prone regions. Understanding the need for flood insurance and knowing what it covers can save you from financial devastation in the event of a flood. Here's what you need to know about flood insurance and how to ensure your property is adequately protected, as provided by the Texas Department of Insurance.
If it can rain, it can flood. And most home insurance policies don’t cover flood damage. To make sure your property is covered, you might need a separate flood policy.
The risk
If your home is in a designated flood zone, your lender requires you to have flood insurance. A flood zone is an area that has a 1% chance of being flooded in any given year. But floods can happen anywhere. On average, 40% of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) flood insurance claims occur outside the high-risk flood areas.
Texas is particularly prone to floods, especially in two large parts of the state: the coast and a wide band called Flash Flood Alley that extends through Central and North Texas. Almost every major city in Texas is in an area at high risk of flooding.
Flood insurance
Talk to your home insurance agent about getting a flood policy from your insurance company or the NFIP. If your agent doesn’t sell flood insurance, call 800-427-4661 for help.
What’s covered
A flood insurance policy will cover your home up to $250,000. You’ll need a separate flood policy for your personal belongings, which provides coverage up to $100,000.
There’s a wait
Most flood policies have a 30-day waiting period before kicking in so don’t wait for an approaching storm before deciding to buy coverage.
Resources
- Visit the FloodSmart.gov or call 800-427-4661 to find an agent in your area and get more information.
- Use FEMA’s Historical Flood Risk and Cost data to help evaluate the flood risk in your area.
- Search for flood maps at FEMA's Flood Map Service Center.
Questions? Call the Texas Department of Insurance at 800-252-3439.
Source: TDI
