If you were among the thousands affected when Katrina hit New Orleans you don’t have to ask why finding affordable Louisiana flood insurance can be difficult-and why most private insurers won’t touch it with a ten foot pole! If you’re living in Louisiana flood insurance isn’t optional, however. So where are you going to go?
In 1968 Congress took care of the problem by enacting the National Flood Insurance Act, which created the National Flood Insurance Program to provide FEMA with some relief from the rising cost of disaster relief for flood victims and homeowners with an alternative to having to pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace their homes when the inevitable floods come through. If you live in Louisiana, especially along the cost of the gulf, and you’re having a hard time finding flood insurance the NFIP might be the best option available to you.
The National Flood Insurance Program isn’t a welfare program; insuring your home through the NFIP isn’t free. It is, however, both affordable and available to homeowners in high risk flood zones where even the bravest insurers dare not go. Through your flood insurance coverage you’ll be protected against direct physical losses caused by flood and losses resulting from flood related erosion-anything higher than is expected, that is. (Raising your foundation a little to protect yourself from the inevitable spillover each year would be an excellent idea.)
Bear in mind that most standard issue homeowners insurance policies in Louisiana don’t include flood insurance, so if you haven’t asked your insurance agent about flooding because you assumed you were covered under a standard umbrella policy now would be a good time to do it. The rules change a little bit when you’re talking about major flood zones like those along the Gulf of Mexico. Insurance companies hate having to pay out claims, and they avoid it by minimizing their coverage in areas where they’re guaranteed to have to do it sooner or later.
Louisiana flood insurance isn’t readily available, but it is necessary. Until the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act residents along the coast were left either without insurance or paying what amounts to the relative equivalent of the national debt in annual insurance premiums. Now, through FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program Louisiana, you and homeowners like you have access to desperately needed coverage without having to pay an arm and a leg for it.
If you’ve had trouble finding Louisiana flood insurance to protect your home, contact the National Flood Insurance Program today.
is the Senior Developer, Software Project Manager, and Director of Business Development for QuoteScout.com. For more information on Louisiana homeowners insurance, visit them on the web at QuoteScout.com.