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Home Flood Insurance is Usually Extra

by Brandon Cornett

Many homeowners are unaware that their home insurance policies don't cover floods and flood-related damages. Until it's too late. Of course by then, the homeowner has incurred damages and costs that the insurance company won't cover. It's a harsh reality learned late.

Of course, the good news is that you are reading this article. So you realize (or soon will) that home flood insurance usually costs extra and is typically not part of a standard homeowners insurance policy. And knowing is half the battle!

Earthquakes, Floods and Homeowners Insurance

While we are talking about natural disasters, you can include earthquakes as well. Most home insurance policies do not cover floods or earthquakes unless the coverage is added on separately. If you live in an area that rarely, if ever, experiences floods or earthquakes, then this may be of little concern. But if you are in a flood-prone area, you should have coverage for it within your homeowners insurance policy.

Information on Floods and Insurance

FloodSmart.gov is a good website to visit. It offers a lot of information pertaining to flood insurance policies for homeowners. At the time of this writing, the website's home page stated that the average flood insurance policy for a home costs only $500 per year. That's a reasonable price for peace of mind, especially if you live in an area that is prone to flooding.

So now we have learned two important lessons regarding home flood insurance policies. We now know that (A) floods are rarely covered under a standard homeowners policy, and (B) flood insurance is pretty affordable in the big picture.

The FloodSmart.gov website also provides some other useful tools to help you research flood insurance for your home — information on policies, tips on buying home flood insurance, an insurance agent locator tool and more. The website is well worth a visit.

In some cases, home flood insurance is actually required before you can close on a property. This is the case in areas that are designated as high-risk flood zones. In these cases, there's a good chance your mortgage lender will require you to have flood insurance prior to the closing process.