Do I Need Flood Insurance?

Do I Need Flood Insurance?

Climate change has affected the United States from fires in California to flooding in Miami city to altering the official hurricane season. In North Carolina and elsewhere if you live in a floodplain designated by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), you must get flood insurance along with your mortgage. Unfortunately, the floodplain maps are outdated. Sadly, folks have purchased a new or existing home that flooded when no flood insurance was required.

 

New Flood Disclosure

Effective July 1, 2024, North Carolina sellers will have a new flood disclosure to complete. Formerly, North Carolina was a buyer-beware state and home buyers could be sold homes that had flooded. The new flood disclosure asks buyers,

Has the property experienced damage due to flooding, water seepage or pooled water attributable to a natural event such as heavy rainfall, coastal storm surge, tidal inundation, or river overflow?
Have you ever filed a claim for flood damage to the property with any insurance provider, including the National Flood Insurance Program?
Is there a current flood insurance policy covering the property?
Have you received assistance from FEMA, U.S. Small Business Administration, or any other federal disaster flood assistance for flood damage to the property?
Is there a flood or FEMA elevation certificate for the property?

The commission also refined the wording of a question about whether the property sits in a designated flood hazard zone.

This new disclosure should safeguard buyers and be a good predictor of whether you need to add flood insurance to your other insurance needs.

It’s important for sellers to provide accurate and complete disclosures to potential buyers to avoid legal issues down the line. Failure to disclose known issues could result in legal liability for the seller.

For more information, you can access the NC Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network to help you gauge whether or not you live in a high-risk flood area.

 

Hurricane Season

The Atlantic hurricane season is officially starting earlier. The National Hurricane Center is expanding their Tropical Weather Outlooks to May 15. Previously, the season did not begin until June 1. The change comes in an effort to provide more accurate information on potential May and June weather-related cases. Gather data on your area using the inundation map and tracking hurricane patterns in your area to see whether or not you should get flood insurance. These factors can help aid you in your decision to ensure that you are protecting yourself and your property against water damage!

 

National Flood Insurance Program Facts from their Site

Homeowners insurance does not typically cover flood damage.
Flood insurance will pay claims regardless of whether or not there is a Presidential Disaster Declaration.
Federal disaster assistance comes in two forms: a loan, which must be paid back with interest, or a FEMA disaster grant, which is about $5,000 on average per household. By comparison, the average flood insurance claim in 2018 was more than $40,000.