You’ve been working all day, nothing has gone right, and now you’ve come home to a flood. Forget the new rug your mother in law just gave you (you hated that rug anyways), ignore the family pictures (hopefully you have a digital copy backed up online), don’t even LOOK at the gold fish that have escaped the confines of the tank and just swam by your leg like a kitchen shark… HOW MUCH IS THIS GOING TO COST??? That’s the question that we all eventually come to. Hopefully this article will give you an idea of what you are looking at initially, so you can get out the fishing pole and focus on the killer goldfish heading toward your pantry. If it’s covered by Home Owners Insurance – You are only responsible for paying your deductible. This deductible is typically $500 but can range from $250-$2000 depending on your home owner insurance policy for non-hurricane. For Hurricane damage the deductible can range from $500, to a percentage of the actual value of the home. Percentages are 2%, 5%, and 10%. The larger the deductible the cheaper the insurance. If you are in areas of high hurricane likelihood, like Florida, then you should become familiar with these policy’s. If it’s covered by Flood Insurance – For Preferred and Standard Flood Zones your deductible is $1,000 for the building and $1,000 for the furniture and other content of the damaged room or home. For High Risk (Zone A) the deductibles are doubled at: $2,000 for buildings and $2,000 for the furniture and other content of the damaged room or home. If it is not covered by Insurance – The best way to answer this question is to have a water damage expert inspect the damage.
