Flood Insurance Facts

1. Everyone lives in a flood zone.
   
   • You don't need tolive near water to be flooded.
   • Floods are caused by storms, melting snow, hurricanes, and water backup due to inadequate or overloaded drainage systems, dam or leavee failure, etc.
   
2. Flood damage is not covered by homeowners policies.
   
   • You can protect your home, business and belongings with flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program.
   • You can insure your home with flood insurance for up to $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for your contents.
   
3. You can buy flood insurance no matter what your flood risk is.
   
   • It doesn't matter whether your flood risk is high, medium, or low,you can buy flood insurance as long as your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program.
   • And, it's a good idea to buy even in low or moderate risk areas: between 20 and 25 perect of all flood insurance claims come from low- to moderate-risk areas.
   
4. There is a low-cost policy for homes in low- to moderate-risk areas.
   
   • The prefered Risk Policy is available for just over $100 a year.
   • You can buy up to $250,000 of ocverage for you home and $60,000 of coverage for your contents.
   
5. Flood insurance is affordable
   
   • The average flood insurance plicy costs a little more than $300 a year for about $100,000 of coverage.
   • In comparison, a disaster home loan can cost you more than $300 a month for $50,000 over 20 years.
   
6. Flood insurance is easy to get.
   
   • You can buy NFIP flood insurance from private insurance companies and agents; call yours today!
   • You may be able to purchase flood insurance with a credit card.
   
7. Contents coverage is separate, so renters can insure their belongings too.
   
   • Up to $100,000 contents coverage is available for homeowners and renters.
   • Whether you rent or own your home or business, make sure toask your insurance agent about contents coverage. It is not automatically included with the building coverage.
   
8. Up to a total of $1 million of flood insurance coverage is available for non-residential buildings and contents
   
   • Up to $500,000 of coverage is available for non-residential buildings.
   • Up to $500,000 of coverage is available for the contents of non-residential buildings.
   
9. There is usually a 30-day waiting period before the coverage goes into effect.
   
   • Plan ahead so you're not caught without flood insurance when a flood threatens your home or business.
   
10. Federal disaster assistance is not the answer.
    
    • Federal disaster assitance is only availble if the President declares a disaster.
    • More than 90 percent of all disasters in the United States are not Presidentally declared.
    • Flood isnurance pays even if a disaster is not declared.

For more information, call the National Flood Insurance Program toll free at 1-888-CALL-FLOOD, ext. 304

or visit http://www.fema.gov/nfip