Where to get Free Flood Insurance Quotes?
Now that you have decided that flood insurance is a necessity, what do you do
next? The most obvious place to start is with your home insurance company or
personal agent. Not all companies are directly permitted to write a flood
insurance policy. In fact, the insurance companies do not actually underwrite
the policy. The policies come from The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),
the federally created program. Insurance companies that are approved to write
policies for the NFIP are called "Write Your Own" (WYO) insurers. They write the
policies, bill their clients, collect the premiums and manage the loss
adjustment on behalf of the federal government.
Insurance companies that are not WYO insurers may write a policy directly from
the federal government, they may contact another agency that is a WYO insurer or
they may redirect their clients altogether to another organization for
assistance in purchasing a flood insurance policy. Regardless of how you obtain
your information, direct from your own insurance company or from a referred
source, one of them will provide the initial quote.
Technically, no matter where you request the quote, it should be the same amount,
all things being equal. The federal government actually sells the insurance and
pays the insurance company a fee so rates would be the same regardless of
company. But rates would change depending on the deductible amount, the
mortgaged amount, the replacement cost and other variables that may change per
home. In order to see the pricing, one may check online at the official website
(www.floodsmart.gov).
Although this article does not seek to recommend one WYO over another, not
really knowing any company's competencies, one company in business since 1984,
claims to service hundreds of agents and allows individuals to seek quotes
directly online from their website at (www.thefloodinsuranceagency.com). They do
tell the public that the rates are set by the NFIP and are the same regardless
of from whom the quote comes.
When obtaining quotes, be careful of companies either on the telephone or on the
internet who say they can get the insurance cheaper or make claims that are
contrary to generally published material on flood insurance. Flood insurance is
not the same as calling for quotes for regular home insurance or auto insurance.
You just do not ring up five or ten companies and decide upon a rate to choose.
The NFIP has set a limit of $250,000 on homes and $100,000 on personal contents
so if a home is worth considerably more, there are now insurance companies that
offer Excess Flood Protection. To obtain quotes for Excess Flood Protection, you
would first need to know which companies offer the specialized insurance. Again
your own insurance agent may recommend a qualified company or may even call on
your behalf to get your quote if they have an agreement in place with a
particular firm.
Flood insurance is a purchase that you must understand. Before purchasing a
policy in addition to the NFIP policy, ensure that you need a policy that offers
more protection and know exactly what you will get if a flood claim is placed on
the policy. Compare the results with NFIP alone and then with both the NFIP and
the Excess Flood Program to ensure you understand the exact payouts in the event
of a flood.