What You Need to Know About Flood Insurance

7/14/2020 (Permalink)

Flooding can be quite destructive, but flood insurance can help you mitigate the overall cleanup and restoration costs!

Flood damages aren’t as rare in Lenoir as they might seem. Back in both June 2019 and February of this year, we had two major storm events that caused flooding here and in surrounding communities. In both events, our team at SERVPRO of Alexander, Caldwell, Burke and Catawba Counties received hundreds of calls from customers whose homes or businesses had been overwhelmed by rain.

Unfortunately, most of these callers didn’t have flood insurance; many didn’t even know they needed it. Without flood insurance, you’re fully responsible for cleanup and restoration costs — an expense that could easily go into the thousands. But if you’ve never had or heard of flood insurance, there are some things you should know.

Waiting Period

With many types of insurance, you can expect coverage to start almost immediately after you purchase it (barring certain exceptions). Flood insurance isn’t one of them. In almost all cases, there's a waiting period before your flood insurance coverage kicks in. This is mainly to prevent people from refusing to buy it until a storm is on the way.

If you purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), there's usually a 30-day waiting period. Private insurance policies, on the other hand, may only make you wait as little as 14 days.

Regardless, if you’re thinking about buying a policy, it’s best to go ahead and do it. Otherwise, you may still be on the hook for the damages.

Flood Insurance is for Everyone

A common misconception is that only people living in designated flood zones need to buy flood insurance. After all, if you don’t live in a flood zone, you can’t have flooding, right?

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Many of the calls we received during the two recent flood events were from customers who didn’t live in a flood zone. Heavy rains, faulty sump pumps, and even structural damages can all lead to flooding no matter where your property is located. So before you write it off as unnecessary, consider getting flood insurance, just in case.

Recovering from Flood Damages

Flood insurance will help you keep your out-of-pocket expenses to a minimum, but if you have flooding, you’ll still need to hire a cleanup and restoration company. Since 2009, SERVPRO of Alexander, Caldwell, Burke and Catawba Counties has helped thousands of homes and businesses recover from fire and water disasters. We’re available 24/7 to clean up and restore flood damages, so call us today at (828) 396-1070!