Still More Coverage
There are special insurance packages for still other calamities. The three most common are flood, hurricane, and earthquake coverage.
Flood protection does not come with a standard homeowner's policy. That fact can come as quite a surprise to a homeowner who hasn't read his policy carefully, until the day he finds 3″ of standing water in his living room. Your homeowner's policy is likely to protect you against flooding that occurs from a burst pipe in your home or from some other similar type of accident; but flooding from a storm or from storm drains around your property is not covered. For that, you need a special policy. If you live in a particularly flood-prone area, or a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), your lender will require you to purchase this special protection. The number-one natural disaster in the U.S. is flooding; to check out the flood risk of your area you can visit
If you want flood coverage, whether it is required by your lender or not, it is best to sign up when you buy your home. There is a waiting period after an application is taken, so you cannot buy a policy when you hear a big storm is heading your way and expect to be covered.
Standard flood insurance typically covers structural damage, floor surfaces (for example, your carpet or tiles), cleanup of flood debris, furnace, water heater, and air conditioner. If you want to cover what's in your home — furniture, clothing, jewelry — you can purchase flood insurance that covers this as well.
If you have flood insurance, you will not have to repay a loan, as you may have with many federal disaster-relief options. Visit
A standard homeowner's policy provides coverage for windstorm damage, and under that heading comes damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, and hailstorms. If you live in a particularly dangerous locale for those storms, you can purchase a special windstorm insurance policy through an independent company or a statewide insurance pool. Florida, for example, has such a pool, offering windstorm policies to homeowners in some two dozen coastal counties in that state.
Earthquake insurance can be secured for a high fee and a high deductible. This is of particular interest to homebuyers in California, where news from seismologists is aired more frequently than folks there find comfortable. You can secure an earthquake policy from your homeowner's insurance agent, who must offer earthquake protection to Californians. A good site to visit for more information is the California Earthquake Authority at
