SAN DIEGO — San Diego County saw widespread damage from flooding and mud flows on Monday. You might think homeowners insurance or renters insurance will cover damage from rainstorm flooding, but it will not.
CBS 8 spoke to Doug Heller, Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of America. Here’s what he had to say:
“The most important thing that people need to recognize is that their home insurance policy will not cover damage done by a flood. Across the United States flood insurance is covered separately from our home insurance policy and is actually excluded from the home insurance," Heller said.
He says you have to buy a policy.
"Most people have to get it through the National Flood Insurance Program. If you go to the National Flood Insurance Programs website, which is floodsmart.gov, you can learn about how to get the flood insurance coverage. But you can't get flood insurance the day of, or the day after, the flood. So that's one of the things for people who are just recognizing that their home insurance policy doesn't cover it. This is not going to be a solution you can do retroactively," Heller said.
"If you live in what's considered a very high-risk flood zone based on national flood maps, you will be required to have it attached to your homeowners policy, and you'd have to buy that secondary policy. But the vast majority of Americans are not in those high-risk flood zones. So, they're not required to buy flood insurance. And of course, we have a situation like we do this week with big rains and floods that are hitting homes that are not required to be covered, and too often simply aren't covered. So if you talk to your insurance agent, they can usually help you get the flood policy, oftentimes they can actually write it themselves, they can put it together. It is important to know that it's not a full homeowner's insurance policy, you have a maximum coverage limit of $250,000, plus less for the contents of your home. So your home may cost more than what the flood coverage policy will provide you to rebuild if there is a complete damage to your home. But $250,000 is certainly better than nothing.”
Heller said the average premium for flood insurance in California is between $800 and $900 per year.
When it comes to flood damage to vehicles, if you have full, comprehensive auto insurance on the car, flood damage should be covered. Of course, the owner will still have to pay the deductible on the policy.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego Storm Update 6 p.m.
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