The typical insurance claim in the US for water damage is now more than $12,500 and accounts for a quarter of all home insurance claims.
The figures from the Insurance Information Institute have been highlighted by Forbes Advisor, the online publication that covers personal and household finances.
Forbes also warns that while your home insurance covers you for ‘sudden and accidental’ internal escapes of water such as pipes leading to dishwashers, washing machines and refrigerators or storm damage to roofs it WON’T cover you for damage caused by external flooding.
Forbes has put out an urgent warning to say: “Most notably, damage from floods isn’t covered by home insurance policy. Floodwater includes hurricanes, tsunamis, storm surges and water from overflowing rivers.”
It also doesn’t cover water damage caused by earth movement such as earthquakes, landslides or mudslides. You’d need to buy a separate earthquake insurance policy to cover that.
Homeowners can buy a separate flood insurance policy through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or a private flood insurance company.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is managed by FEMA and is delivered to the public by a network of more than 50 insurance companies and NFIP Direct.
Flood insurance is available to anyone living in one of the almost 23,000 participating NFIP communities. Homes and businesses in high-risk flood areas with mortgages from government-backed lenders are required to have flood insurance.
But floods can happen anywhere — just one inch of floodwater can cause up to $25,000 in damage.
The NFIP provides flood insurance to property owners, renters and businesses and having this coverage helps them recover faster when floodwaters recede.
Find out more about this at https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance
FloodSax were devised by UK company Environmental Defence Systems Ltd (https://www.edslimited.co.uk/) and managing director Richard Bailey said: “Even when you have a flood insurance policy check what the excess is as they can be really high.
“Many American homeowners and businesses now have FloodSax alternative sandbags so they are ready for flooding 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 52 weeks a year. FloodSax come in vacuum-packed bags of five so are really easy and space-saving to store yet can be ready to soak up internal leaks and floods in seconds and external floods in minutes.”
In their dry state FloodSax resemble an extra large pillowcase and the gelling polymer inside means they can soak up water leaks, spills, drips and internal floods with the FloodSax holding the water within it.
FloodSax are very thin with a large surface area which means they can be used in the most inaccessible places such as beneath boilers, underneath sinks and below leaking appliances such as fridges, washing machines and dishwashers.
To transform them into alternative sandbags in around five minutes, fully immerse the FloodSax in water and the gelling polymer absorbs it and retains it to expand to become a sandless sandbag.
To find out more about FloodSax in the US email us at info@floodsaxus.com, phone us on 800 255 4208 ext 121 or visit our website at https://www.floodsaxus.com/