Flooding is costly. Flood insurance is a great investment to protect your property, your belongings (contents), and your wallet. Most home owners insurance does not cover flooding. You must purchase flood insurance separately. You need one policy to protect your structure and a separate policy to protect your contents. Trust me, they are both worth it.

Know Your Risk

The first step is to know your risk for your property. FEMA offers a Flood Map Service Center (MSC) so you can search your specific property’s risk by your address. This map will detail your risks as well as offer you specific details about your community’s flood hazards.

Action Steps

Buy flood insurance

Flooding can happen anywhere. According to FEMA, roughly 20% of all claims come from properties located outside a major flood zone. There are two types of flood insurance – building/structure coverage and contents/belongings coverage.

Learn what each type of policy covers here.

To purchase flood insurance reach out to your insurance agent, the same place you go for homeowners or auto insurance. It’s important to point out that flood insurance offered by the NFIP costs the same no matter where you buy it. Unlike other types of insurance that can vary dramically depending on where you buy it, the price is the price, based on your address.

For help in finding an agent to offer you flood insurance call the NFIP at 877-336-2627.

What about private flood insurance?

The majority of flood insurance policies are through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), backed by the US government. However, options offered by private insurance companies are becoming increasing more available.

For more information on the differences between NFIP and private flood insurance see here.