How much flood insurance should I buy?

Question

If I'm going to buy flood insurance, how much coverage should I get with respect to the value of my house and belongings? Is there any kind of rule of thumb for coverage?

BTW, I'm not required to get it, I am getting it on my own.

Answer 1

Yep, there is. For the house, you want to have enough to rebuild the house, so it's the replacement value. However, the MOST you can buy, is $250,000. So, replacement value up to the maximum limit.

For contents, anything in the basement isn't covered. So value of contents, up to the limit available (which I think is $100,000 but I'm not positive), less the value of whatever you store in the basement, as it's not covered anyway.

Answer 2

You want to get enough to completely rebuild your house as it is - not the market value (sells price) but the cost for you to hire a general contractor and have them rebuild from the ground up. Sometimes the cost to rebuild is more than what you could sell your house for. You would also want to make sure that your standard homeowners policy provides enough coverage to completely rebuild your house exactly as it is.

Good for you to look into a flood policy even though you are not required to do so!

Answer 3

if your mortgage require sit, they will tell you what is required. getting it on your own? i would insure it to the value you have on your home owners policy along with contents coverage.

Answer 4

If you are buying it because your lender requires it, they will usually tell you what dollar amount you must carry. If you're getting it on your own, its up to you. Flood insurance has both a damage to structure and damage to contents portion.

Answer 5

I would say the same amount as your homeowner's (fire, etc.) insurance.