Flooding....?

Question

Why should those who havent paid for home insurance complain that the government isnt helping them? Surelly, if they recieve financial aid, why bother with insurance?
Its a tragedy and i dont mean to take anything away from their suffering, but it seems to make a mockery of insurance (and the people that buy it) if everyone had the damage paid for by the tax payer

Answer 1

Check your home insurance love before you judge, I live in Gloucester, miles away from the river, our road was flooded by the water coming off the fields, completely freaky, the chap who lives at the end of the road has been here 44 years and has never known the road flood. We have insurance, with, I might add, a very well known insurance company, as do everyone I have spoken to in our road, and not one of us have flood insurance as it is counted as an Act of God, we all assumed we were covered as wrongly we thought, that's what we pay insurance for. In fact, very few insurers cover you for flood damage!!!! Now of course, we cannot get flood insurance as we are seen as high risk. So please do tell, how the poor pensioners in our road replace their furniture?

Answer 2

First, let's be clear. Home Owner's Insurance does not cover flooding. Only Flood Insurance covers flooding and that's subsidized by the federal government anyway.

I would agree that people should not be permitted to build in highly flood prone areas. And that those in flood prone areas should carry, and pay for, Flood Insurance. But it is expensive and some people just do not have the resources to pay for it or to move elsewhere.

If city/county/state government permits one to live in an area; and state government puts a greater priority on growth and income than on personal and property safety; and the federal Corps of Engineers takes responsibility to protect an area from flooding but Congress won't ante up enough money to do it properly because we are spending too much money elsewhere...then shouldn't government also play some role in helping people get back on their feet after the inevitable flood? And the only reason it costs so much to do so is because government, at every level, is more interested in pouring money into the pockets of their political cronies than helping people out more directly.

Answer 3

Homeowners policies have excluded floods as a covered peril for over 50 years. As far as I know, they have never covered flooding.

Yes, homeowners policies do cover acts of god - but that does not mean every act of god out there. Earthquake or movement of the earth is frequently excluded too and must be purchased separately.

Hail, lighting, fire, wind are frequently covered. Insurance companies could offer policies that cover every conceivable act of god ...but then it would be so expensive, only Donald Trump could afford it. Therefore, they tend to cover some of the most common acts of god and you add the other needed coverage through endorsements.

Flood insurance is offered through the federal government through he National Flood Insurance Program. It is funded and underwritten by the government - but is purchased through you local ins. co.

In order to qualify for flood insurance, your home has to be in a flood plain and be a part of a community that participates in the NFIP. To participate, your community will have to meet certain requirements - such as adopting certain building codes. There is also a waiting period once you purchase a flood policy (usually 30 days). That means that you purchase the policy and it goes into affect 30 days later. This is to prevent folks from waiting until the next Katrina is about to hit the coast and then running out to buy a flood policy. The NFIP also has a cap on the amount of insurance offered on one property. I think Congress is looking to raise the cap, but last I heard it was around $250,000.00. That means Trent Lot's mansion was insured up to the NFIP limit -which is less than the market value of the home.

I live in the upper part of my state and my risk of earthquake is low. However, since there is a fault running through the center of the state, I did add an endorsement for earthquake damage to my policy. Because the risk of earthquake is low, the premium is not very much. If the risk for earthquake was higher, then the premium would be higher.

However, my home is not in a flood plain, therefore, I was not able to purchase a flood policy.

A homeowner can choose to run the risk that the government will be there to bail them out if a catastrophic loss such as Katrina happens. But I would not want to take that gamble to protect the biggest investment I have. No where in my mortgage documents does it say, I get to stop paying for my home just because a storm reduced it to a pile of rubble.

Answer 4

It's an entitlement mentality. People don't WANT to be responsible for themselves - they would rather be treated like a child, and let someone ELSE be responsible.

It's a very socialistic outlook on life - very common in countries that are pro-socialist, or have governments heading that way. Unfortunately, wide scale socialism doesn't work - as proven by the collapse of the Soviet empire. Well, and the eventual collapse of every OTHER country that's ever tried it.

Answer 5

Some of them are unable to get insurance as they live on the flood plain, something that they either overlooked or were not informed of when the bought their homes. By the time they were aware what could they do. Couldn`t sell the house so just had to sit there and hope it didn`t happen, which sadly it has.
Lets not mock someones misfortune.

Answer 6

I agree, they have taken short cuts but then expect to be bailed out by the rest of us.

Answer 7

i think they are getting aid and grants.
not pockets of free money.
grants.