National Flood Safety Awareness Week is March 9-13 and in addition to learning more about how you can stay safe during flooding situations, it is also a good time to review your flood insurance coverage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shares these tips for reviewing your coverage:

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a great way to protect your home, business, or personal property. Just one inch of water can cause $25,000 in damage to your home.

After 2019’s historic flooding, one action homeowners, renters and business owners should take immediately is to review their current flood insurance coverage or consider purchasing a flood insurance policy if they don’t have one. Did you know most homeowner and business multi-peril policies do NOT cover flood damage?

Other key facts you should know:

  • A new flood policy typically takes 30 days to go into effect.
  • Flood insurance can pay up to $250,000 for damage to your house and up to $100,000 for contents.
  • Business owners can purchase coverage up to $500,000 for structures and up to $500,000 for contents.
  • Flood insurance pays for covered flood damage regardless of whether there is a federal disaster declaration. The average annual cost of an NFIP policy for homeowners is about $700.
  • Anyone can buy flood insurance if your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), no matter where your home or business is located. Check with your local officials to find out if your community participates.
  • Over 25 percent of flood insurance claims come from areas not considered at high risk for flooding.

Individuals and business owners are encouraged to look over their own emergency plans and update as necessary to ensure they are sufficiently prepared. Ask these crucial questions:

  • If you already have a policy – is your coverage amount adequate?
  • Do you have BOTH structure and contents policies? These are separate coverage policies and amounts. Ask your insurance agent.
  • Do you rent? You can buy coverage for your personal property. Ask your agent about renter’s flood insurance.

Call your insurance agent to review your current policy or ask about a new policy for flooding. You can also contact the NFIP Help Center at 800-427-4661, ext. 4, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Central Time) or visit the official NFIP site at www.floodsmart.gov for more information.