Many people refer to a major water leak as flooding. Insurance, however, defines flooding, or a flood as rising water caused by rivers, lakes & streams overflowing their banks, rising water from heavy rains, or tidal surge which enters the home. This type of water damage isn’t covered by your home insurance policy, it’s only covered by flood insurance.
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.
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/).
In case you missed it, the Biggert-Waters Flood Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) was passed by the U.S. Congress in July of last year. The goal of BW-12 is for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and other agencies to make changes in how the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is administered.
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