Billee Silva:
Hello, it's Billee Silva with the Southwest Florida Realty Show. Gosh, I can't believe today is June first, and do you know what June first is in Florida? It's the start of hurricane season. With Hurricane Ian still so freshly engraved in our memories, I thought today would be a great day to ask if you have checked your insurance policy lately. As so many of my friends discovered last fall that the worst time to learn you have less insurance coverage than you thought you did are the days after a hurricane.
So as a homeowner or even a renter, I would like to strongly urge you to take a look at your insurance policies to ensure your coverage is up to date. I was watching Good Morning America this morning and they were actually interviewing a lady right here from Fort Myers, Florida and unfortunately, she was one of those people whose home was flooded from the storm surge and according to her, which I found hard to believe, she had no knowledge that she was in a flood zone and that she needed flood insurance. She thought her homeowners policy covered that and I know a lot of people fell into that trap. If you don't have a mortgage because your lender if you carry a mortgage is going to require you to have flood insurance, so you definitely know you are in a flood zone or not but if you're one of those people who maybe have owned your home for many years and it's paid off and you didn't know that FEMA has come in and perhaps changed the flood maps you may not know you need flood insurance.
I can’t stress this enough, you need to know what your policies cover and what they don’t. Many residents, especially those new to Florida, assume their homeowner’s policy covers water damage associated with hurricanes. However, only flood insurance covers floods, even if it was a result of the storm. Also, if you’re a renter, your landlord may have flood insurance on the building but not on the inside contents of them so as a renter it is your responsibility to carry flood insurance on your belongings. Flood insurance covers rising water from the outside. Last fall if we were fortunate enough not to experience it firsthand, we definitely saw it in the media, and we’re still seeing it with all the recaps of the storm and how people were standing in their doorways and watching the water come down the street, up their driveway, and into their homes, that is rising water and
Where your flood policy would come in. Rising water from the outside that is always a separate policy from your homeowners' insurance and that’s where so many people got taken by surprise when they went to file insurance claims after Hurricane Ian. Your homeowner’s policy for water damage is like when a pipe bursts or your toilet overflows. Flood coverage is rising water from the outside.
It is important to note that there is a thirty-day waiting period when it comes to a flood policy. Unless it’s a new home purchase, if you’re planning on adding a new policy to your current home you will have a thirty-day waiting period so don’t procrastinate. Also, it’s important to note Insurance companies won’t write homeowner policies when there is a named storm. So if you’re purchasing a new home once a storm has been named, insurance carriers will no longer write policies and everything is going to be put on hold.
Another thing to look at is how much is your dwelling insured for. My husband and I fell into this trap as every year we just continued to renew our current policy, never adjusting the dwelling amount and taking into account the increase in market value. For example, say you bought your home five years ago and at that time its value was $350,000 so you insured the dwelling for $350,000, right? Well, fast forward five years now that value is $850,000 but you’ve just kept renewing the policy every year without any updates and your property coverage for the dwelling is still 350. The same holds true for any other dwellings or personal property coverage you may have.
So, on this first day of June as we begin the 2023 hurricane season, if you have not already done so, review your current homeowners' policy to make sure you have adequate coverage. Better yet, talk to your insurance agent to make sure you're clear about the coverage details, exclusions, and limitations of your insurance policy and to help you make the right choices for your situation.
As always, thank you for tuning in today, and have a beautiful day!