Top ten facts about floods, protecting your valuables and umbrella policies

AM I COVERED IN A FLOOD?

Flood and water damage to a home can be heartbreaking. Discovering you have no insurance coverage can be truly devastating. All homeowners’ policies have standard limitations and common exclusions. No policy will cover you for everything. Flood and other water-related damage is a common exclusion in almost every home insurance policy. The following Top Ten Facts will help you better understand how flood can affect you, and what steps to take to protect yourself:

1. Flood is defined as “normally dry areas which have temporarily been covered in whole or in part by overflowing inland or tidal waters, rapid run off of surface waters (such as heavy rains), mud flows or slides, or waters present due to the collapse of shores.”
2. Sewer back-up coverage, sometimes referred to as “sump pump coverage,” can be added to a homeowner’s policy by endorsement. This endorsement will cover water damage resulting from the backup of sewers, drains or sump pump pits. Often caused by power failure, this coverage is separate from flood insurance, as the losses are from different causes.
3. Regardless of whether someone lives near a body of water, everyone lives in a flood zone and has the risk of experiencing flood. A large percentage of claims are several miles away from the nearest body of water.
4. Floods are caused by rain storms, hurricanes, melting snow, and water backup resulting from inadequate or overloaded drainage systems (sewers) and/or dam or levee failure.
5. Flood damage is not covered under any standard home insurance policy. However, you can protect yourself by purchasing a separate flood insurance policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Flood policies are sold by independent insurance agents like Horton, and administered through several different insurance carriers. The rates are set by the NFIP, and policy forms are standard, no matter what insurance company or agent writes the coverage.
6. As long as your community participates in the NFIP, you can buy flood insurance no matter where your property is located, regardless of whether it is in a high or low flood risk area.
7. Flood insurance is surprisingly affordable, often costing less than $400 per year for $100,000 of coverage. A preferred risk policy is available for as little as $200 in low to moderate risk areas.
8. Flood insurance can be purchased for your building and contents.
9. Newly issued flood policies carry a 30-day waiting period, so do not wait for the next storm to purchase your policy!
10. Federal disaster assistance is not the answer! Assistance is ONLY available if the U.S. President declares a disaster, and 90% of the time, disasters are NOT declared. More importantly, the average grant is only $2,500.

A flood insurance quote from The Horton Group is fast, easy, and just a phone call away. Please call 800.981.4700 to promptly receive a personalized, no obligation quotation for your home.

“Discovering you have no insurance coverage can be truly devastating.”

IS MY JEWELRY COVERED?

A residential fire occurs approximately every 90 seconds in America, and more than two million burglaries occur annually. These sobering statistics should make one pause and evaluate whether all of their property and valuables are properly covered. If you are like most people, you own many items that are sentimentally or financially meaningful to you. All home insurance policies have specific internal limits on items such as jewelry, watches, furs, cash, firearms and silverware. These limits vary by category from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, and in most cases, these limits are inadequate. By adding an endorsement to your home policy, or purchasing a separate “personal articles floater” from the same carrier, your jewelry can be properly protected. This endorsement will cover the items to their appraised value or offer replacement cost coverage, and in most cases offer worldwide coverage with no deductible. Since many of the items listed above are “mobile”, mysterious disappearance is typically included when scheduling items on your policies.Are your cherished valuables properly covered? Why not call your personal service representative today, to review your policy and gain piece of mind knowing that you are protected should the unexpected become reality.

THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU…

A woman wearing an anniversary ring from her husband noticed that the diamond was missing from its setting after a day of being outdoors. Her personal insurance policy only provided coverage for $2,000 per jewelry item. For less than $100, she could have scheduled her $10,000 ring on her insurance policy, which would have fully covered her for this loss, and also provided worldwide and “mysterious disappearance” coverage.

IS A PERSONAL UMBRELLA POLICY RIGHT FOR ME?

Have you noticed that the general population is filing more lawsuits than in the past? In record numbers, people are awarded larger judgments than ever before. Are your insurance liability limits sufficient to protect your assets and future earnings in the event of a lawsuit? We highly recommend looking into a Personal Excess Liability (Umbrella) policy. This type of policy is an extra layer of liability coverage over your automobile, homeowners, motorcycle or boat policy. Should you be liable for someone’s injuries or damages, and your primary policy’s limit runs out, an umbrella can offer an additional million dollars or more of protection. Certain exposures, such as swimming pools, trampolines, or inexperienced drivers make a very compelling case to add an umbrella policy. This coverage can often be added for less than $200 annually for one million dollars of additional protection. Please contact your personal service representative today to review your current coverage, and determine if an umbrella policy is right for you!

… AND HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY NEEDS?

A teenage football star was drinking alcohol with his friends one night when they made the decision to hop a neighbor’s fence and jump into the pool. The boy dove into the pool while impaired by alcohol and broke his neck. Although the pool owners were not present, their homeowners’ policy paid $300k, and their umbrella paid a full $1 million settlement. By purchasing an umbrella for only $150, the pool owners saved themselves from bankruptcy. Anytime an injury occurs on your property, you could be held liable. What can you afford to lose?

YOUR ANNUAL REVIEW

As your life changes, we want to make sure that your insurance protection keeps pace. We have implemented an online tool allowing you to comprehensively review your current insurance program to make sure your information is accurate. We highly recommend you take advantage of this valuable tool. Visit www.thehortongroup.com, click on “Horton 24/7 Service” and choose “Horton Annual Review Form”. For more information regarding this newsletter, The Horton Group, at 800.981.4700 or via email at info@thehortongroup.com.