Here's what every homeowner needs to know about Flood Insurance:
- Ignorance is bliss ... is wrong!
- A new study shows more than half of all Americans don’t know what their homeowners insurance covers.
- Homeowners insurance does *not*-- repeat *not* -- cover floods.
- Sometimes it covers sump pump failure, other times backed up pipes.
- You can only buy flood insurance from the federal government, and it is expensive.
- If you get a federally backed mortgage and live in a flood plain, then you’re required to buy that flood insurance.
- The flood plain map changes, and you might be in one now when you weren't at the time you bought the house.
- There is a website to see if you are living in a flood plain -- see below.
- But here’s the problem: About a quarter of American homes -- 19 percent in Michigan -- are in areas that don’t require flood insurance but could flood.
Helpful links: