Many person beings do no longer know what to make of the flooding that has been happening throughout America in latest months. A few blame international warming, whilst others agree with it’s far due to natural screw ups.
One thing many are missing though is how long the waiting period before flood insurance goes into effect.
Most people assume that once a house is flooded twice within a one-year time frame, then your coverage expires. This is definitely wrong!
Flood insurance will remain active for at least three years after a claim if there have been two floods in that year. During this time, you can be covered again if the area experiences another major flood event.
This article will go more in depth about when flood insurance drops and what you can expect during these times.
History of flood insurance
Over the past half-century, Congress has again and again extended the insurance length for federal flood insurance. These extensions have occurred due to one of two reasons. The first is to give people time to renew their policy after it expires as natural disasters are not foreseeable.
The second is to give owners enough time to find new housing that is suitable before they must purchase additional flood insurance.
History shows that even one year can make a big difference in whether or not you need flood insurance. For example, if your house was built prior to 1990 then you would not be required to carry flood insurance unless FEMA determined that flooding was a risk at your home.
However, if your house was built afterwards then you will likely be required to carry flood insurance soon!
Many homeowners’ policies do not last longer than 10 years so by the time most people realize that they need flood insurance, there could already be a waiting period where they cannot get it.
How long is the waiting period?
Recent changes to federal flood insurance regulations go into effect starting October 1, 2017. The official wait before you can purchase coverage is just one year!
Prior to this alteration, there has been a two-yr grace period for humans with pre-current situations. Now, if you wanted to be covered by flood insurance, you have a one-year window after you make purchases that could potentially get flooded.
This can sound like lots of time, however it’s actually no longer. A year is only about eight months, and during those eight months you are still protected from floods. It’s also less than half of what some people were previously given!
You ought to study this as an opportunity to save money in the future. If your house gets damaged due to flooding, your policy will continue to pay claims until you can replace it.
What happens when the waiting period is up?
Your home may be included by means of flood coverage whether you know it or now not! This may surprise you, however it makes experience. You spot, most of the people have an assumption about how long the waiting period is before their coverage is going into impact.
Most assume that they will find out if their home gets flooded within six months of buying coverage. They believe that if their home was ever actually hit with 10 feet of water then their policy would take effect immediately.
This isn’t always the case though. In fact, many homeowners are never officially notified that their policies exist until years later. When this happens, there is often a lot of stress because these individuals don’t understand what to do next.
Do I need flood insurance?
Even if you’ve never experienced flooding, it can be difficult to determine whether or not you should get coverage. You may live in an area that has historically been deemed too risky for floods, or you could reside in a region with little risk of significant flooding.
In truth, in step with FEMA, most effective approximately one-third of Americans lives in regions considered at high danger for flooding.
But even those who do live in potentially dangerous waters must make sure they have adequate coverage before submitting their claim.
You see, most major metropolitan areas are built close to water sources. While heavy rains occur, rivers overflow due to the fact there’s nowhere else for the water to go. This results in flooded streets, sidewalks, and homes. If someone experiences damage due to wind-, fire-, or flood-related causes, they may file a claim under their homeowner’s policy. However, unless they also have flood insurance, they will likely be denied compensation.
This can lead to many frustrating situations. They might receive less money than what their home is worth, which means they lose everything. Or, they might be completely outfitted financially, but still owe more money than their house is actually worth. In both cases, they fail!
So how long does the waiting period last between when your property is damaged by a covered peril and when you can submit your flood insurance claim? According to FEMA, it’s two years.
What’s the cost of flood insurance?
Even as many human beings anticipate that buying flood coverage means paying every year premiums, what the general public do now not recognize is how expensive this can be.
Most individuals are asked to pay an annual premium during the early stages of coverage. But here’s the problem – you have to actually use your policy for something!
You have to show that your property become broken by way of water, or that your property have been destroyed earlier than you may obtain charge underneath your policy.
This is where things get tricky, because while some policies require you to make a claim within one year, others don’t. Some wait two years, some three, and some never impose a waiting period at all.
But regardless of which sort of flood insurance you have got, there’s always a minimum six-month ready period after a loss earlier than you can expect to see any cash from your policy.
Are there discounts for flood insurance?
There are two ways to get flood insurance if you’re already living in a zone that is considered high risk. The first is to show proof of coverage through another company, or what’s called “open access.” This means your current policy can be canceled at any time and you will be able to re-insure with FEMA quickly.
The second way to get flood insurance is to prove that you cannot afford to live in these areas anymore. If you reside in an area deemed by FEMA as being in a Zone 1 flood plain, then you will have six months to find other housing before you must have flood insurance.
This waiting period comes into play because most companies don’t want to offer you their services until after this six month window has passed. During this time, your house can be destroyed and they won’t help you rebuild it unless you have flood insurance.
Is flood insurance covered by my home insurance?
Even though the general public have get admission to to flood insurance, it isn’t continually clean to use it. You must first ask your house insurer if their coverage includes FLOOD INSURANCE!
Most major household policies do include some form of flood cover, but only for a limited period of time. This normally tiers from 365 days to 5 years depending on how a good deal danger you’re assuming in terms of flooding.
After this time has passed, then you will need to re-evaluate whether or not getting flood insurance makes sense as there’s a chance that the policy could be cancelled due to excessive claims.
Be sure to check out our article about what to look for when searching for a homeowner’s insurance company before picking anyone.
What are the requirements for flood insurance?
The second requirement is that you must have flood insurance. This means that you need to either be covered by NFIP or purchase your own policy.
Most people do not realize how expensive regular, non-flood related home coverage can be. A one year all risk homeowner’s policy will typically cost around $1,000 per month!
A yearly individual policy comes with an up-front fee of around $300 which makes it very difficult for many individuals to start protecting their belongings.
By having this protection, though, it will save you in the long run!
Returning back to our example person, let’s say they decided to go without coverage until they had enough money saved up to cover a possible loss.
If their residence was destroyed because of flooding then there may be no manner of understanding in the event that they could be compensated for his or her losses. They could lose everything!
This would also neglect the fact that most homes cannot be rebuilt after a disaster as well. If they did not have coverage then they would probably have to look elsewhere for housing.
It’s far crucial to note that although shopping for early may additionally appear to be the higher alternative, ready does now not necessarily give you the excellent danger at being a hit in court.