Homeowner's Insurance

On this topic... would you guys recommend buying flood insurance if you're in zone "X"? We've never purchased by the coast before and I'm not sure if it's necessary. I've gone on the Geo site and under no "foreseeable" circumstances does it show the property which we are considering to be flooded. The home is on pilings. What do you guys recommend?.. or what have those who own homes in the area decided to do?

Thoughts to ponder:

(1) Under no "foreseeable" circumstances does Geo site show the property we are considering to be flooded

(2) Home is on pilings

(3) Was the home built on pilings because it affords a better view?

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Flood zone "X" does not mean that area will never flood. It means it has a low probability of flooding and is the best flood zone to be in.

FEMA considers X to be "moderate to low risk" for floods.

I consider the odds that your insurance company will consider hurricane water damage to be "flooding" and refuse to pay for it to be "high". If it's a nominal cost, I say get flood insurance.

I find it odd that the home is elevated on pilings if it is really in Zone X. How high is the first floor off the ground?

Just because a realtor, appraiser, or an insurance company says your house is in Zone X does not mean it is - even if they say so in writing. Unless you have a FEMA map (and know how to read it properly) or a survey by a licensed surveyor specifically stating it is in Zone X, assume it isn't.

I can't emphasize that enough - it seems like an easy enough thing, but it can be a real cluster of misread maps, false info, honest mistakes, or outright lies.

We go without. But we're 40-45 feet above mean sea level, and the soil in our yard is very sandy and drains well when we get one of those stalled fronts that dumps 20 inches of rain in the area in 36 hours, so we feel pretty confident flooding isn't an issue in our neighborhood north of the Bay.

If it's a house on pilings, I'd probably take it as a sign that flooding is possible and buy insurance accordingly.

yes i would buy flood ins no matter what. its only $300 or so and better to be safe than sorry. i think universal is a fairly big company . but as i recall for rental units they were tougher to get ins.

I agree. Our home is not in a flood zone. We purchased flood insurance after hearing that insurance companies denied many Katrina claims because they said the damage to homes were due to a flood, not the hurricane.

I'm not sure why rental units get charged more. Insurance doesn't pay for the paint dings, broken appliances. abused pool equipment, missing pillow shams, and all of the other annoying things that renters do.

rental units get charged more due to much greater liability. you have 20 renters in per year. what are the chances that one slips and falls,that somebody leaves the water on and it floods the downstairs,that somebody leaves the stove or grill on? you get the point its a much greater liability than the homeowner. as far as pilings in an x zone. we're 28 feet above sea level and in an x zone and have 4 foot pilings. i believe almost every home in watercolor is built on concrete pilings. as i said $300 is cheap to pay for peace of mind.

rental units get charged more due to much greater liability. you have 20 renters in per year. what are the chances that one slips and falls,that somebody leaves the water on and it floods the downstairs,that somebody leaves the stove or grill on? you get the point its a much greater liability than the homeowner. as far as pilings in an x zone. we're 28 feet above sea level and in an x zone and have 4 foot pilings. i believe almost every home in watercolor is built on concrete pilings. as i said $300 is cheap to pay for peace of mind.

She was referring to flood insurance. It's only higher for rentals because they can and do charge more.

Another thing to remember about flood insurance, as Beach Runner pointed out, is the issue of a hurricane. Flood insurance hasn't been updated since they took the storm surge off the saffir simpson scale so a category one could have a much worse storm surge than a category three hurricane.

Thoughts to ponder:

(1) Under no "foreseeable" circumstances does Geo site show the property we are considering to be flooded

(2) Home is on pilings

(3) Was the home built on pilings because it affords a better view?

.

Hee hee... you got it through my head... hey, I got SHELLY to respond.. I appreciate everyone's input and will take the advice! Flood insurance it will be... now we just have to get the house.

Hee hee... you got it through my head... hey, I got SHELLY to respond.. I appreciate everyone's input and will take the advice! Flood insurance it will be... now we just have to get the house.

...somehow I smelled the GCT & SS in your future.

It is not just storm surge you have to consider. A 15 inch deluge over an area with a lot of creeks or wetlands may be absorbed quickly under the right conditions, but not if the ground is already saturated and the surrounding area has developed and the stormwater system is a bit less than adequate and some culvert somewhere downstream gets plugged up, etc. You get the picture.
Quite a while ago I recall attending some presentation or other and I forgot most of what was said except the astonishing statement that 25% of claims on flood insurance policies are for properties in zones that do not require flood insurance.

Definitely. The worst rain event I've seen down here wasn't during a hurricane but from an 'ordinary' spring storm where a front stalled out over Pensacola and dumped 20+ inches of rain on our house in 36 hours. Second worst rain event was when we got the wet side of Hurricane Georges, where local flooding was bad enough that I-10 was impassable in multiple parts of the panhandle (and they oddly had to reroute through traffic to US 98 until the water went down. Uusually it's US 98 that's impassable during the storm) And then heavy rain events #3-#5 were other non-cyclone, simple stalled front deals.

We really need 50 different words for rain down here like the eskimos allegedly have 50 different words for kinds of snow.

Fortunately, most of the built up areas around here were engineered to handle the kind of rain deluges that are common to the northern Gulf Coast.

On this topic... would you guys recommend buying flood insurance if you're in zone "X"? We've never purchased by the coast before and I'm not sure if it's necessary. I've gone on the Geo site and under no "foreseeable" circumstances does it show the property which we are considering to be flooded. The home is on pilings. What do you guys recommend?.. or what have those who own homes in the area decided to do?

I am and I do. The coverage is cheap and I know I'm completely covered.

I'd suggest you check to see where you are in terms of zones.

Geocortex Internet Mapping Framework (IMF)

Definitely. The worst rain event I've seen down here wasn't during a hurricane but from an 'ordinary' spring storm where a front stalled out over Pensacola and dumped 20+ inches of rain on our house in 36 hours. Second worst rain event was when we got the wet side of Hurricane Georges, where local flooding was bad enough that I-10 was impassable in multiple parts of the panhandle (and they oddly had to reroute through traffic to US 98 until the water went down. Uusually it's US 98 that's impassable during the storm) And then heavy rain events #3-#5 were other non-cyclone, simple stalled front deals.

We really need 50 different words for rain down here like the eskimos allegedly have 50 different words for kinds of snow.

Fortunately, most of the built up areas around here were engineered to handle the kind of rain deluges that are common to the northern Gulf Coast.

...how about the time the business end (Eastern end) of Hurricane Ivan hit just west of the Pensacola pass and pushed the Gulf of Mexico into Pensacola/Escambia Bay resulting in massive flooding of rivers, streams and estuaries that dumped into the bay. Moreover, rain being dumped by the hurricane and trying to flow back down toward the Bays & Gulf backed up resulting in massive flooding of inland areas.

I knew an person who lived in a house on pilings in Floridatown (25 miles north of the Gulf on Escambia Bay). The water rose up under his home, took out the bottom floor of his home, and all his belongings on the bottom floor were dumped into the water and washed away.

He had flood insurance, and although it was a long and constant battle between the agencies as to who was responsible for paying which damages, he had both sides covered and eventually was made whole.

Now, envision a Cat 3-4 hurricane hitting just west of Destin pass pushing the Gulf of Mexico into Choctaw Bay....makes no difference if you are on a "bluff" or on pilings when water is trying to make its way South to the Gulf.





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Ivan was more of a surge event than a rain event. 8-10 inches was typical in the area from the storm and we'll get that kind of 24 hour rainfall 2-3 times a year.

What caused the huge flooding was largely the wind/surge. At the storm's peak in the Gulf, a buoy recorded a 52 foot wave, which is a record wave height for that body of water. And in inland waterways, it was wind driving rain back into the 'funnel' rather than the rain itself that caused incidents like the I-10 bridge collapse.

Holy Cow.... after all of this discussion, why was even questioning it?? Mother nature gives each area its own dose of challenges. That's why I asked.... thanks guys!

Somewhere buried in these threads is a great story about the bay flooding over the 331 causway and the walton county police officer that got caught in it. Anybody remember the thread?

I am and I do. The coverage is cheap and I know I'm completely covered.

I'd suggest you check to see where you are in terms of zones.

Geocortex Internet Mapping Framework (IMF)

I am :shock: :shock: :shock:.

It's cheap because it is subsidized with taxpayer dollars.

None dare call it a bailout. ;-)

I am and I do. The coverage is cheap and I know I'm completely covered.

I'd suggest you check to see where you are in terms of zones.

Geocortex Internet Mapping Framework (IMF)

Floodsmart.gov: Policy Rates

The coverage is to the limit of the policy w/ a max of 250K building and 100K contents.

I strongly recommend consulting with an insurance professional to make sure you understand your policy limits and other restrictions.

I am :shock: :shock: :shock:.

It's cheap because it is subsidized with taxpayer dollars.

None dare call it a bailout. ;-)

What? My Alstate flood insurance is subsidized? How so?

What? My Alstate flood insurance is subsidized? How so?

Allstate - Flood Insurance

Unless you're talking a very high value property and went through something like Lloyd's of London, the first part (250K) of the insurance was probably Allstate acting as a salesman for the National Flood Insurance Program.

This has actually been an issue with Florida home sales this year because the program technically lapsed in like March, Congress kept getting blocked by individual Members/Senators when they tried to reauthorize it, and a whole bunch of closings got delayed because they were in a time period when NFIP couldn't legally write new policies because Congress hadn't authorized it.

AFAIK, it's been sorted out at this point.

Somewhere buried in these threads is a great story about the bay flooding over the 331 causway and the walton county police officer that got caught in it. Anybody remember the thread?

That was shallowsfuzz that experienced it and shallowsnole that told it.

He was also a Sheriff's deputy at the time.

The story also includes the bay being emptied right before it filled back up.

What? My Alstate flood insurance is subsidized? How so?

Sometimes the truth hurts, yes Shopper your flood insurance is subsidized by the federal government.

Time to End The Beach House Bail-Out - CBS MoneyWatch.com

Sometimes the truth hurts, yes Shopper your flood insurance is subsidized by the federal government.

Time to End The Beach House Bail-Out - CBS MoneyWatch.com

Flood Insurance--Bailout....get it??? <*chuckle* chuckle*snort*>

Sometimes the truth hurts, yes Shopper your flood insurance is subsidized by the federal government.

Time to End The Beach House Bail-Out - CBS MoneyWatch.com

Unbelievable. Does the federal government have a monopoly on flood insurance, or are there private options?

That article was very revealing. Since this is real estate I'll avoid making comparisons between the success fo federallly funded flood insurance and federally funded health insurance.