Personal Insurance
Flood Insurance

Why do I need flood insurance?

Unfortunately, floods are the most common disaster in America with federal assistance for flooding only granted in special circumstances. In addition, 25% of all flood claims occur in areas not identified as high flood risk zones. During the course of a 30-year mortgage, the risk of property damage from flooding is actually four times greater than that of fire. Flood insurance protects you against these disasters.

Even if you don’t live near a lake, river or ocean, you still face flood risks. Most consider the obvious threats of flood— hurricanes, heavy rainstorms, and melting snow—but don’t consider flooding from other not-so obvious causes. Those can include damaged water mains, ruptured tanks or towers, broken levees and dams, and storm water runoff due to poor drainage. To complicate matters, most homeowner policies do not cover flood damage.

What Is A Flood?

In 1968, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in response to the rising cost of taxpayer funded disaster relief for flood victims and the increasing amount of damage caused by floods. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dictates the definition of a flood. FEMA describes a flood as “a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties (at least one of which is the policyholder's property) from:

• Overflow of inland or tidal waters; or
• Unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or Mudflow; or
• Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in a flood as defined above.”

What does flood insurance cover?

The Standard Flood Insurance Program provides coverage up to $250,000 for residential buildings and $100,000 for contents. The NFIP commercial coverage provides a maximum of $500,000 for either the building or its contents. Statewide Insurance Group also offers excess flood insurance to provide flood insurance coverage above the NFIP standard limits. Excess flood coverage is designed for those who need higher limits of protection from flooding or flood disasters.

While a standard flood policy protects your home up to $250,000 that may not be enough coverage. With today’s rapidly increasing home values, many homes are worth much more than this. Excess Flood insurance can increase your flood coverage by as much as $1 million, depending on where you live. Excess Flood provides both building and contents coverage and is available in 17 states and can also be purchased for commercial property.

A Statewide Insurance Group agent can help you design a flood insurance program and determine your eligibility through a federal flood zone determination.