No, your home insurance does not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is a peril, which is the insurance way of saying how the damage or loss happened, that is specifically excluded by your home insurance policy.
The good news though is that there is a solution to this problem and that is to buy flood insurance.
Flood insurance will cover water damage to your home and personal contents. (For more specifics on how this works check out this overview that the National Flood Insurance Program put together for more details.)
What insurance companies offer flood insurance?
The good news is you can purchase flood insurance through me and my agency to cover flood damage. Flood insurance is not like your home insurance where you have your choice of companies to buy it from. The only place that you can get your flood insurance from is the National Flood Insurance Program, and a very small number of private insurance companies.
How much flood insurance can I buy?
With this program you can only buy coverage for up to $250,000 for the building, which means your house, and $100,000 for personal contents, which means all the stuff you own.
If you are renting a home or apartment you can purchase flood insurance to cover your stuff only. The person or company that owns the home or apartment can purchase flood insurance to cover the building so you don’t need to worry about that when renting.
How much does flood insurance cost to buy?
The average cost for flood insurance in the standard flood zone X is $405-452, as of April 1, 2015, for a policy that insures the house for $250,000 and your stuff for $100,000.
The average cost for flood insurance in the standard flood zone X is $144-199, as of April 1, 2015, for a policy that insures your stuff for $50,000.
If you need more coverage than $250,000 for your house and/or $100,000 for the stuff you own you can purchase Excess Flood insurance through private insurance companies. These policies can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending upon how much coverage you want to purchase.
Who should I call?
Not the Ghostbusters! 
If you’d like to learn more about flood insurance please call our agency at 919-463-5300 and ask for me, Josh, or email me at josh@lipstoneinsurance.com. I’d be more than happy to talk to you about the advantages of adding flood insurance to your current insurance program.
