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Does Flood Insurance Cover Hurricane Damage?

Depending on where you live, it may be necessary to purchase flood insurance to protect your home and personal belongings against severe water damage. Homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flood damage, making flood insurance an important consideration for homeowners in areas that are at high risk of floods.

For homeowners in hurricane-prone areas, flood insurance may not cover all of the damages that result from a hurricane. While it does cover flood damage caused by hurricanes, it doesn’t cover damages to your home or personal property caused by strong winds, lightning, or other conditions that may be present during a hurricane. Here’s everything you need to know about whether or not flood insurance covers hurricane damage. Or, if you’re ready to get covered, contact our team at FIB Insurance for a free quote.

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What Is Flood Insurance?

Flood insurance covers damages to your home that are caused by flooding. Standard homeowners insurance policies do not cover damage, making it important for homeowners in flood-prone areas to purchase flood insurance to protect their homes and personal belongings.

Flood insurance is available to purchase as a standalone policy, and some insurers also offer it as an endorsement to homeowners insurance.

Does Flood Insurance Cover Hurricane Damage?

Flood insurance does not cover any damages caused by strong winds from hurricanes, but it does cover flood damage caused by hurricanes.

When a hurricane makes its way through your community, your home may flood due to severe and constant rainfall, the overflowing of nearby bodies of water, or rising storm surges. In cases like these, flood insurance can help cover water damage to your home and personal property. However, it’s important to keep in mind that many flood insurance policies, like those provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), exclude coverage for basements.

Flood insurance policies purchased through the NFIP provide coverage for your home and its contents. Dwelling coverage limits are typically $25,000. If you need more coverage than this, you may need to purchase a private flood insurance policy.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Hurricane Damage?

While flood insurance can help cover flood damage caused by hurricanes, your homeowners insurance policy can help cover other types of damage. For example, if strong winds from a hurricane tear the roof off of your home, your homeowners insurance policy can help pay to repair or replace your roof.

However, in certain regions, wind may be an excluded peril, requiring homeowners to purchase separate coverage to protect against windstorms. As a result, it’s important to review your homeowners insurance policy to understand what hazards you are and are not protected against.

Homeowners insurance policies provide several different coverages that can help protect you against damages caused by hurricanes.

Dwelling coverage

Dwelling coverage protects your home’s primary structure against covered hazards, including hurricanes and windstorms.

If your home is damaged, your dwelling coverage can help pay to repair it. This includes your roof, walls, and built-in appliances.

Other structures coverage

Other structures refer to any structures on your property that are not attached to your primary dwelling. This could include sheds, detached garages, or similar structures.

Personal property coverage

Personal property coverage can help pay to repair or replace any of your personal belongings that are damaged or destroyed by a hurricane or another covered peril. If you own expensive items, like jewelry or fine art, you may need to increase your personal property coverage limits to ensure you can replace all of your valuable belongings.

Loss of use coverage

Loss of use coverage, also called additional living expenses (ALE) coverage, can help homeowners cover their temporary living expenses if they are forced to vacate their homes due to extreme damage caused by a covered peril.

If your home is destroyed by a hurricane, ALE coverage can help pay for hotel costs, meals, and other necessary living expenses.

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Homeowners in hurricane-prone cities like Miami, Kendall, Pembroke Pines, and other coastal Florida cities should have both homeowners insurance and flood insurance to ensure their homes and personal belongings are protected against hurricanes and similar natural disasters. Without flood insurance, homeowners may have to pay out-of-pocket to cover water and flood damage caused by hurricanes.

At FIB Insurance, we work with homeowners in Miami and nearby cities to help them find affordable home and flood insurance policies that protect their homes against hurricanes and other natural disasters. Contact FIB Insurance today to get a custom quote and learn more about homeowners insurance and flood insurance in Miami, FL.

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