insurance paying for flood

[jake57]

Is anyones insurance paying for for there flood damage after the rain storm in Bismarck/Mandan

 

[Slappy]

Typically only if flood insurance is carried. Overland flooding is excluded from most homeowner policies unless specifically added for an additional cost.

 

[johnr]

Flood insurance is about the most expensive non health related insurance in the market. No one/very few carry it unless forced to by your lender, and that is typically because you live in a flood plain.

The reason your typical home owners insurance doesn't cover this, is to keep the rates lower, as one will rarely have a flood event, and I don't want to have to pay triple for all the rest of the home owners to be covered that do have flood issues. Kind of like car insurance, us high credit, low incident folks shouldn't have to pay triple to cover for the shit drivers.

 

[Wirehair]

Agree with previous comments about flood insurance. We have lived on north end of Fox Island for 23 years and never had flood insurance as our home was built above the 100 year FEMA flood event elevation. Along comes 2011. While our home stayed dry due to sandbagging, etc., neighbors that had flood insurance struggled to receive payment if there was no structural damage to property. Not sure all flood insurance works this way but apparently some do.

 

[rustneversleeps]

The good news is I live really close to the river. The bad news is I live really close to the river. We were out of our house for two years in 2011 due to the flood. Fourteen inches of water sat inside on the lowest level for six weeks. Fortunately, we've paid for flood insurance since we moved here in 1991, hoping all the time that we wouldn't need it. We had no problems in dealing with the flood insurance adjuster and were paid $90-some thousand for the damages. Our current flood insurance premium is about $550 a year. My bride sleeps better knowing we have it given where we live.

 

[Obi-Wan]

I could be wrong but It is my understanding even if you have flood insurance it only kicks in if a river/stream overflows its banks

 

[rustneversleeps]

From ND Insurance Department: https://www.insurance.nd.gov/consumers/insurance/flood

 

[Allen]

Flood insurance went through a number of changes over the past 10-15 years. Back then Congress stated they wanted to get out of the business of subsidizing flood insurance policies and that the insured were to start paying the actuarial cost of insuring said property. In general, I would think most on here would agree with that philosophy, but then reality set in. Homeowners, especially on the east coast where hurricanes are common, lost their ever-loving minds. Insurance rates didn't just double or triple, some went up by 1,000 percent, or more. When you think about it and look at the Outer Banks of NC, or the Keys down in Florida, there are neighborhoods that have been in existence for a century, but almost every house is less than 30 years old and valued at $500-800k. This would suggest the actuarial cost of buying insurance for some of those homes to be in the range of $20,000 per year. This absolutely killed the housing market for many of those homes.

So, Congress rethought their plan of full actuarial cost and came up with something that basically grandfathered in the existing owners. However, as they sell those homes, the next owner had to start paying a larger fraction of the actuarial cost of insurance until such time as the 3rd, 4th, or maybe 5th time the place is sold they are supposed to be paying full actuarial cost. Again, at least that was the plan.

I stopped really paying close attention to flood insurance a number of years ago because the rules were constantly changing, and well...I don't need it. Nonetheless, I know they continue to modify the rules with each passing of the authorization for federally subsidized flood insurance. Not sure when they added the Excessive Loss Property (XLP) section, but basically any property that reaches four claims of $10,000...that property is no longer eligible for federal flood insurance and they would have to go out on the open market for it (which definitely means they will be paying full actuarial cost).

I'm not necessarily a Suze Orman fan, but just recently caught an article where she was quoted as saying anyone who can financially do so, should self-insure (at least on flood insurance) and she was going to do exactly that. Reason being, her flood insurance on a Florida beach condo (not sure of its value) had reached $28,000 per year, so she went the self-insured route.

Anyway, I personally wouldn't own a place that is located in a flood zone. When you think about it, if you're in a 100 yr flood plain (1% chance of flooding in any given year) and plan on living there for the next 33 years, there's a 1 in 3 chance during your time there that you will have to deal with a wet house. I lived in GF during 1997 and helped rehab a good number of flooded homes. Owning a wet home is just a big fat NO for me.

I've written enough, but if you are ever to consider buying a place where flood insurance is either mandated (or just a good idea), do yourself a favor and make darn sure you become an expert on the topic. Lots of people get things wet only to then be very disappointed in their flood insurance policy.

National Flood Insurance Program

 

[rustneversleeps]

I did some googling on Suzi Orman. Looks to me like her homeowners insurance is $28,000 per year. There are lots of Florida homeowners insurance horror stories, and I bet she doesn't live in a shack.

 

[Allen]

I did some googling on Suzi Orman. Looks to me like her homeowners insurance is $28,000 per year. There are lots of Florida homeowners insurance horror stories, and I bet she doesn't live in a shack.

Yeah, the article I read specifically mentioned the flood/hurricane role in the insurance cost. As far as the property details...it didn't sound special as they described it only as a 2,000 sqft condo. Which isn't exactly a mother-in-law shack, but is also not exorbitant in size.

 

[Wall-eyes]

If you keep copy of policy look it up something like an act of God not covered I can't remember.

 

[3Roosters]

Flood insurance is about the most expensive non health related insurance in the market. No one/very few carry it unless forced to by your lender, and that is typically because you live in a flood plain.

The reason your typical home owners insurance doesn't cover this, is to keep the rates lower, as one will rarely have a flood event, and I don't want to have to pay triple for all the rest of the home owners to be covered that do have flood issues. Kind of like car insurance, us high credit, low incident folks shouldn't have to pay triple to cover for the shit drivers.

This times 10 ^ . Live in flood, hurricane, etc, areas, expect to pay more for the insurance. Same as life insurance for example...doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out if a person is in ill health, overwieght,smoker, they just may die before someone who is healthy..duhhh..same with flood insurance..if you live in a flood plain...plan on paying more. goes with the territory..enuff said.

 

[Sluggo]

No one/very few carry it unless forced to by your lender, and that is typically because you live in a flood plain.

Or you didn't live in a flood plain for 25 years and you didn't flood during the flood of 2011 but for some reason the feds come along and decide you are NOW in a flood plain in south Bismarck and your lender must NOW require you to buy flood insurance. And if you don't like, well go F yourself.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Flood insurance is about the most expensive non health related insurance in the market. No one/very few carry it unless forced to by your lender, and that is typically because you live in a flood plain.

The reason your typical home owners insurance doesn't cover this, is to keep the rates lower, as one will rarely have a flood event, and I don't want to have to pay triple for all the rest of the home owners to be covered that do have flood issues. Kind of like car insurance, us high credit, low incident folks shouldn't have to pay triple to cover for the shit drivers.

for me It costs about the same as a cup a coffee a day. If one is " out of the flood plain" the costs are quite a bit cheaper than someone "in the flood plain". Those in S. Bismarck that were dumped into the recent flood plain remapping recently and have a basement are going to be in for a shock. Flood insurance does not cover finishes in a basement such as carpeting, painting, doors, baseboard, and such. In 2011 fema covered all those things up to $ 29,000 for those that did not have flood insurance, which was a kick in the nuts for those that carried flood insurance. While my house did not or still does not require flood insurance I have had it since I purchased the home. In 2011 I ended up with about 18" of ground water in the basement, when the power went out. I would have been better off not having the flood insurance as fema covered all those items listed above. While meeting with the flood insurance and fema guys in 2011 the fema guy looks at the flood insurance guy and says " you don't cover those items ? " his response was " no ". Keep in mind both are using the same funds to cover the damages and neither knows what the other 1/2 is doing. The fema guy told me they would not cover the damages not covered by flood insurance because I had flood insurance and that would be double dipping. my request to fema was to cover only the items not covered by my flood insurance, not cover everything.

I still believe the severity of the 2011 flood was do to the policies and incompetence of the COE.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Or you didn't live in a flood plain for 25 years and you didn't flood during the flood of 2011 but for some reason the feds come along and decide you are NOW in a flood plain in south Bismarck and your lender must NOW require you to buy flood insurance. And if you don't like, well go F yourself.

I suppose the ice jam phenomenon wasnt factored in originally in the way it should have been, after the dam was built. Now they know its a real possibility and have adjusted?

 

[mikef]

Flood insurance is a joke. i live below UMary I was unaffected by the 2011 flood other than displaced
Buddy lives on Hogue island area waterfront. . Had significant damage and his premium is 1/3 of mine

 

[Sluggo]

I suppose the ice jam phenomenon wasnt factored in originally in the way it should have been, after the dam was built. Now they know its a real possibility and have adjusted?

You might be correct but even an ice jam isn't going to flood homes 2-3 miles from the river in south Bismarck. I doubt there is any logic to the decision other than a money grab.

 

[Allen]

You might be correct but even an ice jam isn't going to flood homes 2-3 miles from the river in south Bismarck. I doubt there is any logic to the decision other than a money grab.

April 6th, 1952 saw an icejam up by Wilton catastrophically release and send 500,000 cfs through the Bismarck area. In 2011, we hit about 155,000 cfs at the peak in Bismarck. A flood of roughly 3.2 times the size of the 2011 flood will certainly cover the entire flood plain. Even if that flood plain is 2-3 miles wide, such as it is down by Maclean Bottoms.

For reference sake, the 1952 flood had a water level around 8 ft higher than the 2011 flood.

 

[mikef]

April 6th, 1952 saw an icejam up by Wilton catastrophically release and send 500,000 cfs through the Bismarck area. In 2011, we hit about 155,000 cfs at the peak in Bismarck. A flood of roughly 3.2 times the size of the 2011 flood will certainly cover the entire flood plain. Even if that flood plain is 2-3 miles wide, such as it is down by Maclean Bottoms.

For reference sake, the 1952 flood had a water level around 8 ft higher than the 2011 flood.

Pre-dam?

 

[Allen]

Pre-dam?

Yes, by one year. They started filling Sakakawea in 1953. Your point of it being pre-dam is correct in that there is a very good chance the dam would have lessened the problem. The gage at Williston recorded 170,000 cfs and there was another 40,000 cfs coming from the Little Missouri. Nonetheless, an icejam can store significant water that can cut loose pretty quickly under the right circumstances. The icejam of 2009 was a real eye-opener for many people as it stored a pretty good amount of water up above Bismarck from about Double Ditch and north. There's plenty of flood risk due to ice in years where we go into March with ice cover on the river from roughly the Knife River confluence on down through the Bismarck area. A sure recipe for ice problems is a sudden warm spell where we see runoff on the small tributaries (Knife, Painted Woods, Square Butte Cr, Heart R., etc) all rise and try to dump their ice into an already ice-covered Missouri.