Homeowner’s in Frisco finds themselves caught between a rock and a hard place as they wait for their homeowners association and neighborhood developer to decide who’s responsible for the collapsing slope behind his home. It also raises a question of what their home insurance policy covers and doesn’t cover.
There are a number of things most people don’t know about flooding of flood insurance, such as flooding is the top natural disaster in the US, and that flash floods are the top weather related killer, or that 20% of all flood claims are from low and moderate risk flood zone areas (see https://wiseinsurancegroup.com/texas-floods-and-flood-insurance/). There is one other thing most people don’t know about flood insurance, and that is there are limits on how much a policy will pay on a claim.
The Dallas / Fort Worth area recorded the wettest May on record with 16.97 inches of rain. We also survived the second wettest spring on record with 25.04 inches of rain from March through May. According to the National Weather Service, parts of D/FW have received between 16 and 24 inches over the past 180 days.
I’ve started receiving letters from the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, for my residential clients with flood insurance policies on their homes. These letters are being sent to all flood insurance policy holders prior to their renewal as a result of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, or HFIAA, of 2014. The letter notifies flood insurance policyholders of a surcharge which will be added to their upcoming renewal.
There are 20 homes in Carrollton, Texas on Barclay Drive which back up to Dudley Branch Creek. The retaining wall behind the homes is failing causing the lots to sink as the soil begins to move downhill toward the creek. Some of the residents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Carrollton saying it’s responsible for repairing the retaining wall while the city contends it’s the homeowners’ responsibility to repair the wall. The estimated cost to repair the wall is $3 million. Home insurance won’t help the homeowners either.
I helped several people with their home insurance last week. They all own or are buying homes in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. In each case I discussed what their new home policy covers, but one seasoned home owner asked me something different and that was what does his policy not cover.
Hurricane Dolly struck South Padre Island on July 23, 2008 with winds near 100 miles per hour, a four foot storm surge, and 12 to 15 inches of rain. Damage to structures on the Island and in Port Isabel, across the bridge on the Texas mainland, was pretty moderate and consisted of mostly damage to roofs. Power was knocked out to most residents and businesses for one to two weeks. Anything perishable, whether in a business or home spoiled.
On March 22nd, a hillside that was saturated with water from earlier rains gave way. A wall of mud, trees, and debris swept over the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River and covered an unincorporated area known as Steelhead Haven located 4 miles east of Oso, Washington. Mud, trees, and other debris covered an area of Steelhead Haven measuring 1,500 feet long, 4,400 feet wide and between 30 and 40 feet deep, roughly 1 square mile.
Flood insurance popped up on the national news feeds in late March of this year. The Biggert-Waters Flood Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) went into effect in October of 2013 impacting home and business owners along coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, as well as in the Missouri River Basin (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/flood-insurance-reform-act-of-2012/).
North Texas was hit by an ice storm about two weeks ago. Rain fell and froze then built up on trees and powers lines until weight won out and lines began to snap. The storm led to power loss for over 270,000 people with no numbers reported on the impact to small businesses.
Subscribe to my newsletter by filling the form below.
A confirmation email will be sent to your mailbox: please read the instructions to complete the subscription.
