Flood insurance
In the summer of the past year, US floods cost more than 10 billion in water damages. In China, 98% of flood damage was uninsured; in the US this is 75%, while in Europe only 47%.
Everyone wants to sleep peacefully and feel secure about the things they own. Very few people, however, take the right measures to protect their apartment / house / property. Insurance is something you should consider, having in minded the global changes and potential risk for your home.
System of legislation on compulsory insurance against damage caused by floods has been established. There are: National Law on Flood Insurance from 1968; Flood Protection Act 1973; Coastal Resources Act 1982; Corrigendum to the 1994 National Flood Insurance Act; Disaster Recovery Reduction Act 2000, Water Act.
The Coastal Resources Act 1982 establishes a Coastal Zone Protection System, which, however, is not the only source of flood insurance in US. Protection can also be provided by private insurers. Individual states also have flood action programs established through the so-called “National Coordinating Agencies”. The program takes three forms, depending on the number of people in the building.
One of the insurance risks against which the property of the US citizens is insured is the following:
Flood – Damage caused directly (as an immediate consequence) by flood.
Criteria for determining risk are introduced – the US National Flood Insurance Program determines and maps the areas where flood risk is high, after which the program transmits the necessary data to the relevant districts and calculates the appropriate amount of insurance contributions. For this purpose, it creates special cards, Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The program also provides cover for the removal of ruins, measures to avoid damage and damages caused by pollution due to floods.
Limiting property insurance to citizens against natural disasters
In most countries around the world, there is no limit on the insurance of citizens’ property from disasters and accidents. Only in the United States the insurance coverage is limited to areas on the lowest ground floor, depending on the area in which it is located and information on the construction. The basement and the ground floor are included under a staircase building. Here the coverage of a residential building is limited to 250 thousand USD, and for movable private property up to 100 thousand. For industrial buildings the coverage is up to 500 thousand USD.
In US insurance may be required by the lender when the person has a federal mortgage loan and the building is located in a high-risk area. The landlord may at his own discretion require such insurance even if the building is outside the high-risk area. Flood insurance may be required as a condition for receiving federal disaster relief after the disaster declaration.
Legal entities insured against natural disasters
Individuals who are insured against floods in US are the owners of buildings, builders, tenants, mortgage lenders, and legal entities.