Floods - Don't Rely on Disaster Assistance!

Floods? That's what disaster assistance is for, right?

Wrong - Disaster assistance is only available when the President declares a disaster. Federal disaster assistance is USUALLY A LOAN that you must PAY BACK WITH INTEREST. For a $50,000 loan at 4% interest, your monthly payment would be around $240 a month ($2,880 per year) for 30 years, in addition to your mortgage loan that you still owe on the damaged property. Plus you would need to buy and maintain flood insurance for the life of the loan.

Flood Insurance is affordable! The average premium for flood insurance coverage is less than $570 a year (even less outside of high risk zones). Plus, when you submit a flood insurance claim, you are compensated for all covered losses whether or not a disaster has been declared - and you do not have to pay it back.

There is a standard 30-day waiting period for new policies unless purchased during a home closing. There are also restrictions for selling or changing policies while a named storm is in the Gulf of Mexico.

For more information, call your Select Insurance Group Agent at: 855-GET-SELECT or visit www.selectinsuranceteam.com

Flood insurance 101

With the melting, thawing and spring rain upon us it’s important that homeowners take a moment to re-evaluate their flood insurance coverage. Not sure where to begin? Take a look at the 3 most common flood insurance questions, asked by homeowners just like you:

1. I can’t buy flood insurance if I live in a high-flood-risk area, right?

Wrong. If your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), you can buy National Flood Insurance no matter where you live. To find out if your community participates in the NFIP, visit FEMA’s Community Status page. More communities qualify for the NFIP every day.

2. Can you buy flood insurance immediately before or during a flood?

You can buy National Flood Insurance anytime – but the policy isn’t effective until a 30-day waiting period after the first premium payment. However, this 30-day waiting period can be waived if the policy was purchased within 13 months of a flood map revision. If the initial flood insurance purchase was made during this 13-month period, then there is only a one-day waiting period. This one-day provision only applies when the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is revised to show the building is now in a high-flood-risk area.

3. Does my Missouri homeowners insurance policy cover my flooding risk?

Most home and business “multi-peril” policies do not cover flooding. Homeowners can include personal property coverage in their NFIP policy, and residential and commercial renters can purchase flood coverage for their contents. Business owners can buy flood insurance coverage for their buildings, inventory and contents.