Flood Insurance Is A Waste of Money If....

Hello Chris Greene here with the Flood Insurance Guru, and today we're talking about is flood insurance a waste of money? There are some situations where flood insurance can be a complete waste of money. Some of these situations include if you're looking for certain coverages when it comes to basements, if you're looking for certain coverages when it comes to covering a dock, and certain types of water . We've seen so many people who have taken a flood insurance policy out because they want a certain thing covered. However, they were given some misinformation and that type of loss would never be covered. Let's talk about some of those types of losses.

First of all lets discuss coverage for basements. Basement coverage can be very limited and confusing when it comes to what flood insurance covers. First of all what is a basement? The NFIP defines a basement as any area of a building with a floor that is below the natural ground level on all sides; otherwise, it is considered the first floor. The following items are covered under building coverage as long as they are connected to a power source and/or installed in their functioning location.

• Sump pumps
• Well water tanks and pumps, cisterns and the water in them
• Oil tanks and the oil in them, natural gas tanks and the gas in them
• Pumps and/or tanks used in conjunction with solar energy
• Furnaces, hot water heaters, air conditioners and heat pumps

• Electrical junction and circuit breaker boxes and required utility connections
• Foundation elements
• Stairways, staircases, elevators and dumbwaiters
• Unpainted dry wall and ceilings, including fiberglass insulation
• Cleanup

When it comes to personal property or contents coverage the following things are covered.

• Clothes washers and dryers
• Food freezers and the food in them Flood insurance does not cover basement improvements or items not necessary to make the home safe, sanitary and functional -- such as carpeting, finished walls, paint, floors, ceilings, furniture or personal belongings that may be kept in the basement. Necessary items are included under building coverage and some under contents coverage.

Now that we have discussed what flood insurance covers in a basement and what it doesn't lets talk about some different types of water losses.

There are two types of water losses we want to discuss. There is ground water and surface water. Groundwater is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers. Surface water is water on the surface of continents such as in a river, lake, or wetland.

When it comes to ground water being covered flood insurance is a waste of time. Flood insurance will only cover surface water that inundates two acres of land or more than one property.

So what about docks? Generally flood insurance is not going to cover docks or any structure that is over water. This would include boat houses as well. Understanding when flood insurance is going to cover something and when it is not can be tricky. This is one of the reasons why we always recommend reaching out to a flood insurance expert like the Flood Insurance Guru.

It's very important to understand the situations when flood insurance is going to be paid out so that you're not wasting your money, like snow seeping into a basement or water seeping into a basement or groundwater coming in and you're not having any coverage, or, the drywall finishings in a basement. your A lot of things that may not be covered because the property's below grade and the National Flood Insurance program limits contents coverages there.

So if you've got questions about maybe are you wasting your money on flood insurance? You want us to take a look at it to see if it would actually be covered for a loss? Please reach out to us. Floodinsuranceguru.com, subscribe to our YouTube channel, The Flood Insurance Guru, and like our Facebook page, or just give us a call. 205-451-4294.