Ok.
You might think homeowners insurance or renters insurance
would cover damage from flooding like that,
but in fact, it will not.
CBS eight's. David Goffin is working for you.
He talked to an expert on flood insurance and found out why you might want to get it.
He joins us live from mountain view, David.
That's right.
We're live along ocean view boulevard and this flood channel you see
behind me cuts right through the neighborhood with residential homes on both sides
and
chances are all the damage from that flood channel.
Overflowing is not gonna be covered by homeowners insurance.
I spoke to Doug Heller today, an insurance expert, a consumer advocate.
He's with the Consumer Federation of America.
The most important thing that people need to recognize is that their home insurance
policy will not cover damage done by a flood across the United States.
Flood insurance is covered separately from our home insurance
policy and is actually excluded from the home insurance.
So you have to buy a policy.
Most people who have it get it through the National Flood Insurance Program.
If you go to the National Flood Insurance Program's website,
which is floodsmart.gov, uh
you can learn about how to get the flood insurance coverage, but
you can't get flood insurance the day of or the day after the flood.
So that's one of the things for people who
are just recognizing that their ins insurance home insurance policy
cover it.
This is not going to be a solution.
You can do retroactively if you live in what's considered a
very high risk flood zone based on the national flood maps,
you will be required to have it attached to your
homeowners policy and you'd have to buy that secondary policy.
But the vast majority of Americans are not in those high risk flood zones.
So they're not required to buy the flood insurance.
And of course, uh we have the situation like we do
uh this week with,
with big rains and floods that are hitting homes
that are not required to be covered and too often
simply aren't covered.
So if you talk to your insurance agent, they can usually help you get the flood
policy. Oftentimes they can actually write it themselves.
They can put it together.
It is important to know that it's not a full homeowners insurance policy.
You have a maximum coverage limit of $250,000
plus uh and less for the contents of your home.
So your home may cost more than what the flood coverage
policy um will provide you to rebuild if there is a complete
uh damage to your home,
but $250,000 is certainly better than nothing.
Well, what, what, what does it cost?
Can you give me a ballpark figure what it might cost? You?
Sure. The cost of flood insurance really ranges.
Um And there have been changes over the last
couple of years to pricing of flood insurance.
But in California, the average premium is somewhere in the
800 to $900 a year range.
Now, a lot of vehicles were damaged with water and mud as well.
And there is some good news.
If you've got full comprehensive coverage on your vehicle,
that water damage should be coverage.
However, you're still going to have to pay your deductible.
Ok.
So, but what about those cars after that happens, David,
is there any chance those cars that have all this water damage are
going to end up on sale in the next year or so?
That could happen?
That insurance expert told me buyer beware,
what happens is the insurance companies,
they total out those cars and then they get resold at auctions
and they end up getting sold and they can be real lemons.
Water damage is really bad on cars. You can have problems with them.
They get resold at auctions
and they will be
resold with a salvage title.
Good warning on those and some good information on
uh insurance for flood, for flood insurance.
David got
some reporting for us. Thanks David.