Flood insurance Archives - Wise Insurance Group

Home Buyers and Flood Insurance

Brandi Wright, a realtor in Arlington, Texas sent me a text message earlier today asking a really interesting question, “Is there a way to find out if a home has ever had a flood claim?” Adding to the “Twilight Zone” coincidence factor, was an article appearing on Insurance Journal in my email this morning entitled, “States with the Best, Worst Home Flood Damage Disclosure Laws.” Let’s look at a couple of interesting notes related to the home buying experience and flood insurance.

Excess Flood Insurance

Over the past two weeks, I’ve written about flood insurance. I wanted to wrap up this theme and address one of the limitations of a standard, government backed flood policy and that is the policy’s limits. Limits are present on all forms of insurance including home, car, jewelry, commercial, and even flood. When I refer to a policy’s limits, I’m referring to the maximum amount of coverage available on the policy for a specific item. The question we’ll answer in this post is how to obtain coverage beyond a standard flood insurance policy’s limits.

Flooding, Flood Insurance, and 10 Little Known Facts

Many people tend to discount a flood can happen to them since they aren’t in a 50 or 100-year flood plain. But as many Houstonians can attest in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, that may not count for much!

Here are 10 little known facts about flooding & flood insurance worth knowing!

Flood Insurance Overview

Last week I reprised a post outlining reviewing your insurance in preparation for hurricane season (it started last Friday), and I wanted to follow that up with my annual overview on flood insurance. Flooding can happen at any time, whether it’s caused by torrential rains, a sub-tropical or tropical storm, or a hurricane. Let’s plunge into the two types of flood insurance coverage, as well as what happens if you need more than the standard policy provides.

Hurricane Season Insurance Review

Sheri and I visited family in Alabama over the Memorial Day weekend. We all watched the weather reports on sub-tropical storm Alberto as it turned north in the Gulf and headed toward the Florida panhandle and Alabama. It serves as an excellent reminder that hurricane season officially begins on Friday, June 1 and runs through the end of November. With that in mind, let’s review home insurance and remember a hurricane or named storm can impact central and north Texas residents as easily as it does our coastal neighbors. Specifically, I’ll address two key areas of your home insurance policy to review along with two other related policies.

How the Government Shutdown Impacts Insurance

As I write this, it appears the members of the Senate and House of Representatives have come to their senses and agreed to fund the federal government for at least 17 more days or until February 8. Who knows what will happen by then! Regardless of who’s at fault, I thought it would be interesting to look at how such a shutdown impacts individuals and insurance.

Potential Changes in the Flood Insurance Program

The National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, was already in deep debt, to the tune of $24.6 billion, before Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and Tropical Storm Nate hit our shores. Further complicating matters, the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, is projecting a budgetary shortfall of $1.4 billion. Let’s examine what’s causing the budgetary shortfall and what the future implications are for the flood insurance program.

Commercial Flood Insurance

There are two types of commercial flood insurance, standard flood insurance, which is a FEMA administered policy and excess flood insurance. Both serve a purpose for small, medium, and large businesses and offer coverage to help get the business back up and running.

Flood Coverage and Car Insurance

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Corpus Christi nearly two weeks ago then moved eastward along the Texas coast where it stalled over Houston for several days before moving on to Louisiana and off to the northeast. A one-thousand-year flood resulted from the trillions of gallons of water that fell along the Texas coast, enough to depress the earth’s crust by 2 centimeters. The estimate on the number of cars destroyed by Harvey ranges between 500,000 and 1,000,000. Let’s examine what kind of car insurance covers your car from flood damage.

Returning Home After the Harvey Leaves

The sun peeked out Wednesday afternoon for a few minutes over west Houston reminding everyone briefly that it still is there. This was followed by heavy rains stretching from Houston to almost New Orleans as Tropical Storm Harvey moved back onshore and headed in a northeasterly direction. The end of the rain may be in sight but it will take weeks or months before all the floodwaters in Houston and elsewhere recede and dry ground reappears.

Homeowners whose homes have been flooded, will be anxious to review the damage as quickly as possible. Here are some guidelines from FEMA I believe is important to share.

Tag: Flood insurance

Home Buyers and Flood Insurance

Excess Flood Insurance

Flooding, Flood Insurance, and 10 Little Known Facts

Flood Insurance Overview

Hurricane Season Insurance Review

How the Government Shutdown Impacts Insurance

Potential Changes in the Flood Insurance Program

Commercial Flood Insurance

Flood Coverage and Car Insurance

Returning Home After the Harvey Leaves

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Professional Liability

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