What Is Considered Flood Damage?

When your house has got flooded, that's always bad news. Water damage is one of the TOP reasons for contacting an insurance company. What's more, water damage can be incredibly expensive for your wallet, as it is not only related to direct flooding, but many bad effects of moisture in the walls as well.

However, many homeowners are confused about whether their home has been damaged by a flood or it has been subject to water damage. The difference is substantial and it should be taken into account.

Why Is It Important to Correctly Identify the Source of Damage?

In the United States, all homeowners have a homeowners insurance policy aka HO3. It enables a policyholder to apply for compensation to the insurance company if the property has been damaged. But few people know that a standard homeowners policy does not cover flood damage. It will help you get compensated for the damage caused by water leaks, and even then not always. However, when flooding comes into play, the policy may be useless. Therefore, it is very important to accurately determine the cause of the damage even before you draw up a claim for compensation for the damage to the insurance company.

What Is Considered Flood Damage and What Is Not?

What is flood damage? First of all, remember that this term is most often referred to natural phenomena. But that's not all. Let's look at the matter the other way round and define what water damage is and why it shouldn't be confused with flood damage. So, water damage can be caused by:

• a pipe break in a wall, floor, bathroom or basement,
• leaks in your household appliances such as a dishwasher or washing machine,
• water drips due to clogged air conditioner filter,
• roof leaks, undiagnosed in time due to the fault of the owner of the house,
• clogged sewer, which leads to a backed up toilet.

Are these familiar situations? Remember that all of these are not causes of flood damage. And what, in that case, is? In fact, everything that has become a consequence of a natural disaster, force of nature or natural causes is considered flood damage. In practice, we will consider several situations.

• You are a Louisiana coast resident, and every hurricane is a challenge for you. It tears off the roof, brings a large amount of water inside the premises. That's the damage resulting from the flood.
• You live in the Colorado area, and every spring the river overflows and floods your basement. This is definitely flood damage.
• You have a ranch in New Jersey, and there is annual rainfall in autumn. As a result, the ground floor of the house is completely covered with water. This is also an example of damage from flooding.

To understand the things better, have a look at the following table:

What to Do in Case of Flood Damage?

Above all, remember: a standard homeowners insurance policy DOES NOT COVER FLOOD DAMAGE! It only compensates for water damage. Thus, if there is a pipe burst, a washing machine leak or a sewer burst in your home, compensation is possible. But in case of a flood due to tropical downpours, your HO3 policy is completely useless. There is, of course, an option, to hire a public adjuster who can convince the insurance company that the cause of the damage is related to water, but not to flooding. In some cases, this is quite realistic. But, if you live in a state where the risks of flooding are very high, whether due to hurricanes and storms, rising water levels in rivers, or breaking dams, this will not help. In this case, it will be much more effective to buy a separate insurance policy under the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program).

If you live in a region where floods occur regularly, buying such a policy is one of the mandatory activities. But, if you live in an arid state, far from rivers and seas, it may not be useful. In this case, the services of a public adjuster will be much more helpful and effective.