Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance Spring 2020 | Page 30

FLOOD INSURANCE
A Flood?
What If ???
FLOOD INSURANCE
P
eople always ask, “Why do I
need Flood Insurance?” They
tell me their property is not near
a body of water and the area is
not at a high risk for flood. They
also let me know there has never been a
flood at the property. Then they ask, “Why
do I need it?” 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
your property) from overflow of inland
or tidal waters, from unusual and rapid
accumulation or runoff of surface waters
from any source, or from mudflow.”
At one point, I was a nonbeliever as well
and simply was unaware, because I did not
know anything about Flood Insurance.
I do know that I like gambling! During
certain hands of blackjack, I do buy
insurance in the casino to protect my bet.
So why not protect your biggest asset:
your home or your business. On the eve of Independence Day in 2018,
a massive water main break took place
and sent millions of gallons of water
rushing through the streets of Center City,
Philadelphia. The authorities blocked
several streets on one of the busiest nights
of the summer. People woke up to flooded
streets, their cars under water, significant
damage to a number of buildings, and
debris everywhere! The ground was
unstable, and this led to concerns of
possible explosions, ultimately causing
delays in repairs. With those closed streets,
businesses had to shut down, and some
of those businesses did not reopen right
away. While there is insurance coverage
available for such events, some people did
not have proper coverage and others only
thought they did.
Now I tell all that ask, the word flood is
a broader term than we realize. What if
there is a flood, or the potential for a flood
becomes greater? What if the insurance
carrier labels the claim as a flood, even
though there was no eventful storm or
event? There is a lot to consider here.
Technically, we are all living in a flood
zone regardless of our area’s level of risk to
certain types of floods.
The word flood has been defined by the
National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP), in part, as “[a] general and
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Picture this: you come home after a long
day at work, pull into your driveway, see a
weird puddle, and notice the entire right
side of your house between you and your
next-door neighbor’s home is full of water.
You think to yourself, That’s weird. There’s
never water there! You walk to the side of
your house, see the water is high enough
so that you have damage to your home,
and then you notice your neighbor is
emptying their pool onto your property!
Is this scenario a flood? We have seen
these claims from all angles, and yes,
this claim is indeed a flood. This was a
temporary condition, on a normally dry
area, where two properties (one being
yours) were involved. Therefore, even
though you may not be in one of those
so-called high-risk flood zones, flood
coverage certainly would have helped here.
Floods are the most common and
destructive natural disasters in the United
States. All 50 states have seen some sort of
flooding. Insurance Brokers are prepared
to deal with these issues. Insurance
Carriers can provide inexpensive flood
coverage for properties in low-risk flood
zones, but the higher the flood risk, the
more unaffordable the coverage becomes.
In most cases, standard Carriers will only
offer flood coverage in low- to moderate-