What Does Flood Insurance Cover?

What does flood insurance cover?

Usually when I get asked this question, I answer it with a question. And usually that question is “Why? What happened?” Sometimes it’s just a “Oh nothing. I’m just wondering” (It’s never a “just wondering” situation)

The short answer to the question is that flood insurance covers floods. I know. I know. Shocking right.

According to FloodSmart.gov (an official site of the National Flood Insurance Program), Flood Insurance covers direct physical losses to your structure and belongings.

But that might lead you to another question: What is classified as a flood? 

Again, according to FloodSmart.gov a flood is an excess of water on land that is normally dry, affecting two or more acres or two or more properties.

Lots of fancy words in there.

Examples of what could be covered

* It rains for 3 days straight and your house is under water, and so is your adjacent neighbors property.

* The sewer backs up and causes damage to 10 houses on your street.

* It rains and 5 acres on your 10 acre property are now underwater with damage to the buildings.

Examples of what might not be covered

* Your toilet backs up and covers your downstairs with water.

* The rain causes your one acre lot to be covered with water and damaging your home but your neighbors property isn’t flooded.

* After a large storm, the streets in your neighborhood are almost undriveable but there is no damage to the homes or belongings.

So if you ever have a question about “Can I claim this on my flood insurance” ask yourself these questions: Is this area normally dry? Is it affecting two or more acres? Is it affecting two or more properties? Is it causing direct physical losses to my home or belongings?

Contact a licensed insurance agent to see if a flood insurance policy is right for you as most homeowners policies exclude flood coverage.