Hurricanes are a known problem for those along the coastal areas of Texas, but flooding can occur in a variety of ways. Flooding damaged over 200,000 Texan homes in 2017. Over three-quarters of those homes were outside designated 100-year flood plains, and most of those had no flood insurance. Floodwaters destroyed more than a million vehicles and damaged multiple businesses.
Much of Texas has vast plains with many waterways. From December 1991 through February 1992, non-hurricane related storm systems caused much of Texas to receive above-normal rainfall, creating unusual flooding conditions that damaged over 48,000 homes. Historically, nearly one in every four homes lost from floods were not in designated flood zones. Therefore, flood insurance policies are not something that only people within established flood zones should have.
Flood insurance has been nationalized through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), but it is sold through private insurance companies. NFIP building property policies cover only house structures and detached garages for up to $250,000. You will need a separate personal content policy to cover other items up to $100,000, such as your vehicles and the things that make a house a home. Even though Texas does not require you to buy flood insurance, you still might need flood insurance if you want to take out a property mortgage loan. Do you want to risk borrowing money to buy an expensive home or vehicle, only to have it destroyed the next year without insurance?
Most flood insurance policies have a 30-day wait period, which means you cannot wait until you learn about a potential hurricane hitting your area before buying a policy from us. If your properties are valued more than $250,000, which most urban properties are, you will need supplemental or umbrella insurance policies. RW Insurance Services Inc. offers NFIP policies, and we provide separate insurance policies that extend the basic NFIP coverage. We can give you that additional assurance that you will be fully covered. Come in and talk to us today. We are ready to help walk you through the flood insurance process.
