If you have home insurance and your house has never been flooded, you may hesitate to sign up for flood coverage. However, it’s essential to realize that flooding increasingly occurs in unexpected places. Flood insurance offers many valuable benefits and may even be required by your mortgage lender.
What It Covers
Regular home insurance doesn’t cover flooding unless an overflowing toilet or frozen pipes cause it. Only flood insurance can cover flooding from an external source, like heavy rain or an overflowing river. Flood insurance generally protects a home’s structure, built-in systems, and certain appliances. Some policies also cover personal belongings.
Flood Risks
Buildings near rivers and streams often face the most significant risk of flooding. For example, the Susquehanna River has been known to flood parts of Bloomsburg, PA. Although less common, lakes and ponds can also flood nearby homes. Flooding has become more widespread and severe in recent years.
Floods also happen in less obvious places, such as low-lying areas. Urban neighborhoods with paved streets and driveways may flood due to poor drainage. Official statistics show that flooding has occurred in 99 percent of U.S. counties during the last 28 years, including many places where few people expected it to happen.
Is It Required?
Lenders usually require mortgage borrowers to have flood insurance for any home in a Special Flood Hazard Area. A bank can still require this coverage if a house is located elsewhere. Lenders do so because it protects their investment in the loan and avoids the risk of a total loss if the home is severely flooded.
Pennsylvania homeowners in need of flood insurance can benefit from speaking to the experts at The Good Insurance Group LLC in Bloomsburg, PA. Our independent agency empowers customers to compare policies offered by more than 20 different insurers without calling multiple agents or filling out dozens of forms. To learn more or request quotes today, please call 570-213-3367.
