Spotlight on Flood Insurance

5/13/2019 (Permalink)

Flood Damage Cleanup in Chesapeake

No one plans to become a hurricane victim, and no one should have to learn the hard way either that homeowner’s or renter’s insurance does not cover flood damage.

After Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Chesapeake’s Deputy coordinator of Emergency Management, Robb Braidwood said “If you live in Chesapeake, you should have flood insurance.”  “The highest point in the city is in a swamp.”

Recent flood insurance updates from the Insurance Information Institute say that on March 18, 2019, the Trump administration announced plans to reform the National Flood Insurance Program.  The program would begin to assess properties individually using variables like one’s proximity to large bodies of water, hurricane rainfall, coastal surges rather than the current applying a single formula for an entire flood zone.  Since higher valued properties are more likely to hit the $250,000 insurance cap, lower valued homes are paying proportionately more than higher valued homes.  The new reform would change this process and drive flood risk into the private reinsurance and risk markets.  According to the Institute FEMA will announce the new rates on April 1, 2020 and will implement the new system on October 1, 2020.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers disaster grants that do not have to be paid back, but this amount is often much less than what is needed to recover.  According to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, if you have flood damage, and do not have flood insurance, there could be resources available to help you through the FEMA.  For info go to www.fema.gov.

If you suffer flood damage in Chesapeake, call your local SERVPRO® of Chesapeake North at 757-465-9700.