Flood Insurance
The decision of the Louisiana Supreme Court earlier this week, finding in favor of the insurer in a case involving an interpretation of the flood exclusion in a commercial property policy, has wide reaching implications for many other home and business owners affected by the hurricanes in 2005. After the hurricanes, insurers relied upon the standard flood exclusions in home and commercial property policies to deny claims for damages as the result of flooding. Since 2005, States, homeowners, and business owners have challenged insurers on this issue. The Court found that the damage in the case was indeed flooding, not man made, and excluded under the policy at issue.
Commercial property policies exclude flooding and most water damage from their policies. Flood insurance is needed to insure against such a risk. You can assess your flood risk, find an agent, and review premiums at the National Flood Insurance Program's website.
Comments
As an insurance specialist working in the Caravan industry in England I had the displeasure of dealing with hundreds of flood victims last year, 2007, it was horrible seeing how the floods had affected so many people. I did my best to get these people the compensation they were entitled to.
Sad thing is that some people had insurance that simply did not cover flood damage and that was heart breaking.
It is always important to check with your insurer – not just your agent. My agent told me I didn’t need flood insurance because the insurer always paid “something” on water damage. Got new agent.