Although Ohio isn’t known for major weather catastrophes, the surge of heavy rains over the past few years have caused way more flooding than we’ve ever seen. Even within our small county (Logan), several small villages have experienced damaging flooding.
So it’s natural that after heavily damaging rains, we get calls from customers asking if the flood damage is covered. Our answer depends on the type of policy it is. Since car and homeowners insurance questions are the most common we receive, we’ll discuss the answers below. Let’s start with car insurance.
Does my car insurance cover flood damage?
At its most basic, a car insurance policy has two main parts.
- Liability coverage- covers bodily injury and property damage to OTHERS.
- Physical damage coverage- covers damage to YOUR vehicle.
So it makes sense that if we want to know if OUR vehicle is covered for flood, we’d look at the physical damage portion since that covers OUR vehicle.
Simplifying even further, physical damage coverage has two possible parts.
- Comprehensive coverage- covers fire, theft, vandalism, hitting an animal, falling objects, glass breakage, flood (YAY!).
- Collision coverage- overturn or upset, contact with an object other than an animal (guardrail, tree, other vehicle, etc.), most single vehicle accidents.
If your vehicle is caught in a flood, is damaged and you have comprehensive on that vehicle, you’ll have coverage for that damage. Comprehensive often has a deductible, so the claim check would be written minus the deductible. A note: comprehensive coverage is also called “Other than Collision”. They mean the same thing.
The opposite holds true- if you don’t have Comprehensive on a vehicle that suffers flood damage, then you would pay the repairs out of pocket.
Let’s move onto homeowners insurance.
Does my homeowners insurance cover flood damage?
99.9% of homeowners insurance policies exclude flood. Period. End of story. Some insurance companies have started offering an endorsement that includes a small amount of flood coverage. We’ve included an example from Erie below.
To get flood coverage for your home, you must buy a flood insurance policy. Although we do not sell flood insurance, you CAN contact the National Flood Insurance Program help center at 800-427-4661 for a referral in your area.
For additional resources regarding flood insurance, visit FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (including FAQ, definitions and how policies are rated).
Extended Water coverage from Erie
This endorsement includes both water backup of sewer or drain AND flood. Flood includes inland flood, tidal waters, or storm surge or mudflow and mudslide. Coverage is provided for direct physical loss to the dwelling, other structures, and personal property on the residence premises caused by an extended water event. This includes coverage for personal property in the basement.
Availability of the coverage is subject to underwriting/eligibility. Minimum coverage available is $5,000 with maximum dependent on dwelling amount.
It’s important to note that this endorsement does NOT take the place of a flood insurance policy and is also excess coverage over any other applicable flood policy. Additional guidelines/requirements also apply.
Here’s an example of how Extended Water would work
Classic example……..A creek behind a home overflows and a surge of water enters the basement. This type of water is typically referred to as surface water runoff. Extended Water would pay for clean up and repair or replacement of damage up to the coverage limit and subject to deductible.
It’s not full blown flood insurance coverage, but certainly a a nice way to bridge the gap.