What to know about insurance if your house flooded

A flooded home is overwhelming enough. Navigating flood insurance can make the situation even harder.

Here are seven things you want to know if your home flooded.

1. Flood insurance is a separate policy from homeowners or renters insurance.

Water damage from flooding isn’t covered on a standard homeowners insurance policy or renters insurance policy. Flood coverage is usually a separate policy for both types of residents, which can leave many with expensive out-of-pocket costs.

If your house is flooded and you don’t have flood insurance, be on the lookout for when the state announces whether the federal government approved disaster relief, which may include individual financial aid for low-income households impacted by the flooding in Western Washington.

2. Take photos — lots of them.

If you have flood insurance, take photos or video to document the damage, make a list of lost or damaged items and contact an insurance agent to notify them of the damage, said Aaron VanTuyl, spokesperson for the insurance commissioner’s office.

Documenting every inch of your home’s damage is one of the most important steps in the claim process. Insurers rely heavily on photo proof to verify what items were damaged, estimate repair or replacement costs, and ultimately decide what they’ll pay.

3. Talk to an insurer before making permanent repairs or disposing of damaged property.

What you repair or throw away after a flood can affect how much your insurer pays. They often require in-person damage assessments before permanent repairs can be made.

Keep your receipts for any temporary or emergency repairs, VanTuyl said. They may reimburse you later.

4. There’s a lot public flood insurance won’t pay for, and a lot more private flood insurance will.

Most people with flood insurance in Washington are insured through the National Flood Insurance Program.

These policyholders cannot be reimbursed for additional living costs, such as temporary lodging and food, while evacuated. The government-run program also does not cover personal property kept in basements, financial losses caused by business interruption and property outside of an insured building.

Private flood insurance coverage varies widely by insurer, but private companies offer broader coverage for those losses.

5. Contact your car insurance about damaged vehicles.

Standard flood insurance policies, including public and private, do not cover vehicle damage. Water damage from floods is often included under comprehensive auto insurance coverage, which many insured drivers have.

6. You can receive an advance payment.

The National Flood Insurance Program, as well as many private flood insurance companies, allows advance payments on flood insurance claims to help policyholders start repairs quickly. Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance policyholders could receive up to $5,000 initially without an adjuster visit and up to $20,000 with documentation, though these amounts are deducted from the final settlement, VanTuyl said.

Those with significant damage who have a contractor’s estimate could receive more, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

7. Avoid these common mistakes during the flood insurance claim process.

VanTuyl said the most common mistakes people make are not documenting their home’s damage with photos or video, not saving communication with insurers, waiting too long to respond to insurers’ follow-up requests for information, incorrectly applying, submitting an incomplete application and filing duplicate applications.

Most of those can be avoided by working with your agent or a FEMA representative to make sure your claim is as complete and well-documented as possible, he said.

Find more information on the flood insurance claim process at FEMA.gov.

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