Insurance Ruling

[JavaMan]

The recent ruling on what insurance will cover should get everyone checking their policies. I always assumed if the wind took the roof off my house and it rained in my dwelling; I would be covered. I thought the flood insurance was only needed if you were in an area of rising water. It looks like I assumptions may be wrong.

 

[HardbodyLoyalist]

Every homeowner in America pretty well just got hosed with that ruling.

The court basically said that the homeowner would have to "prove" which damage was caused by wind and which was caused by flood water if we wanted to collect any insurance.

Yeah, sure. Just how exactly does one look at a pile of rubble and determine anything other than the house was once made of wood?

 

[Shannow]

That's a turnaround.

It's always been that water through the roof was consequential to the intial damage.

 

[rjundi]

quote:

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Originally posted by JavaMan:
The recent ruling on what insurance will cover should get everyone checking their policies. I always assumed if the wind took the roof off my house and it rained in my dwelling; I would be covered. I thought the flood insurance was only needed if you were in an area of rising water. It looks like I assumptions may be wrong.

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You would be covered. The ruling stated the damage incurred was very little from wind but mainly the storm surge. Very different than what you are stating.

 

[cousincletus]

^^^ That's how I understood it too. When flash floods hit W.Va. there was no free money from FEMA handed out or much publicity. If you didn't pay extra for the FEMA insurance, you were S.O.L. Everybody koows that (or should) if you live in a flood plain or hurricane alley. BTW the FEMA ins. is usually 3X what your homeowners policy is. You pay that in addition to your homeowner's ins.

 

[Al]

My basement wall fell in 30 years ago and I painfully found out that insurance doesn't cover damage due to groundwater.

I could have lost my entire house and would have not gotten one cent.

 

[keith]

quote:

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Originally posted by cousincletus:
If you didn't pay extra for the FEMA insurance, you were S.O.L.

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Only the government (FEMA / NFIP) will insure what would be considered uninsurable by any rational measure e.g. homes on stilts at the beach.

If the home washes away, FEMA will pay you to build a new home - on the same stilts. FEMA allows repeated claims on the same property, encouraging construction in flood zones.

There is a good reason that private insurers won't cover homes built in high risk coastal areas.