5 Reasons Why Flood Disaster Assistance Might Be Declined in Nebraska

Dealing with a disaster can be a very difficult time. However being declined for disaster assistance can make things even more difficult. We want to talk about 5 things that could cause this to happen. This is especially important in areas that have experienced lots of flooding recently like Nebraska City, Kearney, Gibbon, and Wood River Nebraska.

Home is livable

Disaster assistance is for those really bad situations. It's for people who do not have a reasonable place to live in Nebraska. What we mean by this is it's not safe for them to stay in their Nebraska flooded home. So additional living expenses are provided possibly up to 18 months.  So let's say you had some water in a basement but had it removed and someone else had 4 feet of water on their first floor. As you can see these are big differences in living conditions.

Lack of Communication

Communication is key in getting disaster assistance approved in Nebraska. Let's say you can't live in the home then you need to make sure FEMA has three ways to reach you. You should provide

1. Cell Phone number

2. Email address

3. Temporary address

If FEMA can not reach you they can close out your case and move on to the next customer. So it's important to fill out the disaster assistance application with the right information.

Duplicate coverage

As mentioned before disaster assistance is for those really bad situations. You may have flood insurance either through the NFIP or the private market on your Nebraska property. If you do then you would need to max out this policy before being approved for disaster assistance. There are going to be some things that won't be covered because insurance covered it and there will be some things that insurance does not cover. One of the biggest things that gets declined because of duplicate coverage is building coverage and contents coverage, this especially important in Nebraska because many people have multiple structures on their property with it being a heavy farming area. However one of the things that can still be picked up by disaster assistance is temporary living expenses. This is one thing Nebraska NFIP flood policies do not cover but some Nebraska private flood insurance policies do cover.

More than 1 person in household filing

Disaster assistance can quickly be declined if more than one person in the same Nebraska household apply for it. Disaster assistance will only pay out for one individual per household. So if you are married make sure to only do one application to decrease the chances of being declined.

Your identity

Identifying yourself properly is crucial to getting approved for disaster assistance. Here is a link that can assist you getting the proper types of identification. 

1. Social Security Number must match name on application

   A. If it does not match

       1. Marriage license needed

       2.  Military or Government ID

2. Must be a U.S. Citizen

If you have further questions about disaster assistance in Nebraska please visit our website Flood Insurance Guru to learn more. You can also check out our YouTube channel or Facebook page The Flood Insurance where we do daily flood education videos. You can also contact us by clicking the link below.