Why were so many flood victims Uninsured?

Question

From what I have read many victims were uninsured but demanding financial help from Government and Councils.

Answer 1

This seems wrong. As a previous answerer said, here in the UK most household insurance covers flood damage, so these people have only themselves to blame.

What's more to the point is that if they are given compensation, why did the government not offer compensation to those responsible people who tried to provide for their own futures in pension schemes, only to lose their money through no fault of their own?

Answer 2

Because flood insurance can be very expensive and if they did not live near an area that was highly likely to flood they would not have been spending the extra money. Where I live we had a huge flood 10 years ago. A lot people didn't live near the river so they did not have flood insurance. It was a 500 year flood, areas that will probably never flood again were flooded. A lot of these areas are the same way.

My town now has a dike system and most people no longer have flood insurance.

Answer 3

I will answer this one with pleasure. Insurance companies have been caught a few times now, but the problem is they expect you the householder to take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again, and obviously you cant.

Insurers are in the business of making money by peddling insecurity, by way of fire, theft and vandalism etc, but dependent upon the level of any claim and the number of claims made the insurers impose huge premium hikes across the board to pay for it. However in the instances of flood damage more than twice some insurers have refused to insure former clients because of the likelihood of another reoccurence.

Flooding is happening on a much more regular basis now and those in the danger zones are effectively being penalised, despite maybe never having claimed for some 30 years or more.

Answer 4

I see as usual UK answers has a bunch of Americans assuming everywhere follows their rules. Flood damage cover is usually part of standard household content insurance unless specifically excluded by the insurance company. This will only happen if the area floods so frequently that a payout is a certainty in which case the premium will be the same cost as the goods insured and therefore pointless. An area that only floods every 100 years (hence 100year flood) hardly falls in that category and in flood plain areas the premiums will be higher but this reflects the greater risk of a claim being made and hence the greater need for insurance.
I have every compassion for someone who's home was flooded but to someone who expects the government to replace their leather sofa and plasma TV because they didn't insure it..... well..... if it was stolen would they expect the same....

Answer 5

flood insurance is usually an extra much, MUCH higher priced policy. If you get a house, get insurance for fire, burglary, accidents, etc. it'll cost quite a bit. Flood damage is almost never covered, and is an extra, completely different policy. Many people don't read the fine print and do not even realize this. Others just can't afford both policies. Some insurance companies don't even offer flood insurance in any form.

Answer 6

I used to work in home insurance and once an area has been flooded once insurance companies wont take on any new policies from that area. If you already have insurance and have to claim they put the premiums up so high people cant afford it.

Yes, some people just chose not take insurance and sadly they are learning a harsh lesson, but a lot of people are losing out now because the insurance companies refused to take them on.

Answer 7

Most of the residents in the flood area were poor and unable to qualify and pay for flood insurance. They were willing to risk everything by NOT having a flood insurance and instead buy some of the luxury items they were “entitled” to.

With the poverty level of the area and the corruption in the government leaders, both mayor and governor, they were willing to risk it, after all, what were the odds?

Answer 8

First thing to know: Flood Insurance CANNOT be purchased from a private insurance company.
Check your home-owner's policy and you will see coverage for water damage from things like roof leaks and water pipe problems, but FLOODS are EXCLUDED!
Flood insurance can ONLY be purchased from the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
The reason? Insurance companies aren't STUPID enough to cover you for flood damage.
The Federal Government will cover you because if they get in trouble, they just pass the bill on to the taxpayers of America!
If you build in a flood plane, you can't get a mortgage without flood insurance. You must apply for it and will buy it from the Federal Government.
When you see someone build a mansion on the sea-shore and it is wiped out by a storm, it is rebuilt at YOUR expense. Their insurance is subsidized by the taxpayer.
If their home is destroyed and rebuilt every 5 years.... You still pay for it!
See why flood insurance is NOT provided by PRIVATE Insurance Corporations?
To have the flood insurance, you must PAY for it. It isn't cheap. If you don't buy it, the Government isn't going to give it to you AFTER the fact.

Answer 9

First off, you can not just go buy flood insurance. You have to be in a flood zone, which is dictated by the feds. 2nd. when you can buy it there is a cost, which a lot of people simply can not afford. 3rd. Some areas get hit by floods that are suppose to be clear of this and are not in a flood zone. Things do happen out of the ordinary.

Answer 10

i think of that human beings ought to renowned purely how heavily the coverage companies load coverage quotes in aspects that can flood, many aspects that have been ok have now been classed as floodplains following the floods of many years in the past, in case you lived in a form of aspects, your quotes could have larger by making use of 200 % in the final couple of years, additionally, the government has allowed proposals to construct new housing in flood ordinary aspects in many aspects of the rustic, back, coverage is oftentimes complicated / impossible to acquire. Lesroys... Insured motorists DO pay for uninsured injuries, a proportion of each and every coverage is going right into a fund to conceal losses led to by making use of uninsured drivers... American pals, most of the folk who have not been able to locate the money for the coverage stay in residences rented from the close by authority, they probable did not % to stay there.