What you need to know about Flood Coverage

Consider your house for a moment. It's probably the biggest financial investment you'll ever make. And if you're like most of us, it's not even close to being paid for. Having it damaged or destroyed would be disastrous.

So you buy insurance to cover the risks - like a Homeowner's policy against fire. Makes sense. But did you know that, depending on where you live, your house could be four times more likely to be damaged by a flood than a fire? Floods are the leading cause of U.S. natural disasters and weather-related fatalities.

That's a lot of people who said,
"It won't happen to me!"

If you follow the news at all, you know that floods happen year round and virtually everywhere. Sure, you'd expect flooding along the coast, but, believe it or not, almost 30% of all U.S. floods happen in so-called low- to moderate-risk areas. In the last 5 years alone we've had two major flood events in Massachusetts.

Why is flooding so widespread? Simple. The more land we build on, the fewer places water can drain. Then there are tropical storms and hurricanes that create storm surges, tornadoes and torrential rainstorms. There's snowmelt, rising rivers, mudslides and just plain rain. When the ground can't soak it all up and local drainage isn't adequate, you have a real problem. If just two feet of water can float a car, imagine what it could do to your living room.

So what do you do?

Buying more insurance is as exciting as paying more taxes. And just as complicated. But it doesn't have to be, especially if you live in a low- to moderate-risk area. In fact, the flood insurance application that we use takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

When it comes to floods, what you don't know CAN hurt you. Your standard Homeowners policy does not cover flood damage. Surprised? So are most property owners after a flood!