mobile home flood insurance

Every home in America, or the world, has the potential to be in the path of a flood (yes, even if you live on the top of a hill). The point is that some homes have a higher risk of damage by a flood than others.

Mobile homes are no exception.

In America, FEMA controls the flood maps. The audit and change the maps when needed, usually every few years or so, but especially if there has been recent flooding.

Your home may one day be in a flood zone, then one day the maps are re-drawn and your home falls outside of the flood area. This happens all the time because the topography of the land shifts and the water then will flow more or less in one way or direction.

If you have a loan on your home, even a mobile home, your lender will require flood insurance if you are in a flood zone. This is even the case for "100 year" flood zones, where in theory it has not flooded (or will not flood) for 100 years or so.

Flood insurance can seem like a waste, but all insuranc is a waste - UNTIL you need it! Then is seems like a bargain.

Flood insurance is usually written as a separate policy, but some carriers include it(look for a future post that covers which main carriers there are and what their specialties are. Flood insurance can cost up to $1000 extra per year depending on the likelihood of your home flooding and the expected damage cost this would have.

If your home is in a flood zone, but you don't think it should be, there are ways of having an audit done to see if you truly need it. There are different levels of audits, so contact FEMA or a flood map company like First American Flood Data Services and see what they recommend.

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