Flood insurance covers damage caused only by rising water, whether from ponding, tidal flow, or storm surge. This type of damage is not covered by your homeowners insurance policy! Damage caused by water entering from roof damage, broken windows or other penetration of the outer walls is covered by your homeowners insurance.

There is a 30 DAY waiting period from the policy purchase date until the coverage begins, with the following EXCEPTIONS:

• 1: When the initial purchase is in connection with the making, increasing, extension, or renewal of a loan, and
• 2: When the initial purchase of flood insurance occurs during the one year period following notice of issuance of a revised flood map for a community.

Flood insurance is necessary to obtain federally secured funds to buy, build, or renovate a structure located in a flood hazard area. This includes federal grants, FHA, and VA loans, as well as most conventional mortgage loans.

Check to see if your property is within a designated flood hazard area. Do this, even if you do not (or did not) require a conventional mortgage loan to purchase your house or business. To protect yourself financially, you may want to purchase flood insurance, if your property is in a designated flood hazard area.

The cost of mitigation, or preventative measures to reduce flood damage to an insured building is often reimbursable! Policy holders may also recover the cost of removing insured contents from a building. To recover content removal cost, community officials must declare the building in immediate danger of flooding. This recoverable cost includes the removal and temporary storage of contents for up to 45 days.

If your home receives flood water damage, whether or not you purchased a flood insurance policy is important. The type and amount of Federal disaster assistance available to you changes if you do not have flood insurance. To protect yourself, you may want to purchase flood insurance if your property is within a designated flood hazard area.

If a sales person quotes you rates under the National Flood Insurance Program in the thousands of dollars, STOP! Check with other agents. NFIP rates should be the same regardless of the company you choose! If the price you are quoted seems high, verify it with another company before you sign!

• Don't accept statements from present owners, neighbors, or sellers that "It's NEVER flooded!" or "The flooding problem has been fixed." While it may not have flooded recently, if it flooded once it probably will flood again! It is very difficult to "fix" flood problems.
• To find out more about your property's flood risk, contact any licensed property or casualty insurance agent or broker. Your local building department or the main branch of the public library can also help you determine your property's flood risk.
• Always check with LOCAL BUILDING OFFICIALS or code enforcement agenciesbefore you purchase a house. They will assist you in determining if a flood hazard exists for your property.
• Don't assume that there is no flood risk just because your property is shown "outside the 500 year flood zone." Flood maps are designed around anticipated hurricane storm surges, and do not take flooding from heavy rainfall into account. Many areas which have flooded from rainfall over the past few years are "outside the flood zone." While they may never see a storm surge, rainfall flooding almost certainly will happen again!
• Remember that much of south Florida is in, or has been "reclaimed" from the Everglades, one of the largest swamps in the world. Heavy rainfall is Mother Nature's way of taking the swamp back temporarily. Swamps, by definition, are wet flooded areas. By choosing to live here we must accept the responsibility of protecting the environment and ourselves.

• Regulations for flood prone lands are often different than other land areas. Collier County and the City of Naples have adopted flood plain management ordinances. Permit requirements for building and development enforce land development regulations.

• As a result, construction costs could be prohibitive! Find out before you purchase property! In some cases the owner may be denied a building permit for property purchased for development. Development regulations prevent unwise use of flood prone lands. In other cases, development orders require that lowest floor elevation be above base flood levels. In either case, the owner faces significant unexpected costs. Regulations prohibit substantial improvements, additions or reconstruction to flood prone homes.

• Include in your list all home furnishings, clothing, and valuables. Take photographs or video of your home, inside and out. The list and the photographs will help the insurance adjuster settle your claim. Uninsured losses may be tax deductible if they can be documented.

© 2002, Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida