Flood Insurance Isn’t Only For Those Who Live Along The Coast

Throughout the United States the most common natural disaster is flooding, per the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The average flood claim is more than $38,000. You may think you don’t live in a flood zone so you don’t need to add flood insurance to your home insurance policy, but in reality, everyone lives in a flood zone. There is a one in four chance that over the life of a 30-year mortgage you will experience flooding once.

Areas that are rated as having a high risk of flooding mean homeowners have no choice but to purchase flood insurance.  Those in a low to moderate risk area have a choice of purchasing insurance for flooding or foregoing it.

With nearly 25 percent of insurance claims being a result of flooding in low to moderate risk areas, this means every homeowner needs to weigh their odds when foregoing flood insurance.  Many standard insurance policies don’t cover floods.   Many homeowners have told us they don’t need flood insurance as they believe that Federal disaster assistance will be there to help them. However, not every flood area is considered a Federal disaster.  When a flood is considered a Federal disaster then aid is available in the form of a loan, which means it must be paid back.

It only takes a few inches of water to do thousands of dollars in damage, which means as a homeowner in Eastern Pennsylvania or Western New Jersey, you will need to decide if flood insurance is right for you and if you are willing to take a risk.  Don’t wait until rain is in the forecast to decide to purchase flood insurance as it takes 30 days from the time of  signing up for the policy to go into effect.

If you are looking to sell your Eastern Pennsylvania or western New Jersey home the Silva Group is here to help. The Silva Group is comprised of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey’s best and brightest in the real estate industry.  If you are considering buying or selling your home we would love to help. Our team is more than a bunch of real estate agents packed into an office – we are friends and family members who all have one passion – to provide the very best real estate experience possible to our clients.