Flood insurance – hurricane hell
Posted date : May 21, 2025.
I read the article in Issue 133 by your editor, Ross Quigley, with both horror and surprise. Horror about the experience which Ross and his family are going through with the virtually complete loss of their cars and property in Florida. Surprise regarding the statement…”Apparently, flood insurance does not cover anything on the main floor.” While Ross goes on to laud the car insurance coverage from Hagerty and Chubb and to call them out, there is no mention of which company provided the [apparently useless] flood insurance. I am guessing that there may be future litigation reasons for not mentioning them – or some other reason – but it certainly begs the question of why the flood insurance company was not similarly called out. Making a throwaway statement that flood insurance does not cover the main floor seems a bit irresponsible. I, for one, called my insurance broker who was quite surprised to hear this and was very curious as to the details. I think that your readers deserve a more fulsome <= really odd choice of word here… change to “full”? explanation.
Paul Casey
Washago, ON
Ed.: When the claims adjuster came to the property to assess the damage, he asked three very simple and direct questions. Do you have a washer and dryer on the first floor? Do you have a chest freezer on the first floor? Do you have a working air conditioner properly installed in a window on the first floor? Because that is all that is covered by flood insurance on the first floor!
We pointed out the upright refrigerator. Not a chest freezer; not covered. The laundry equipment was on the second floor unharmed. And the house has central air conditioning. It was also pointed out that there was no coverage for drywall removal or replacement or for painting on the first floor. This all falls under “read your policy carefully.” Everything on the second and third floors was covered for flood, but the water never got that high and it is hard to imagine that it ever would. The insurance company’s name is irrelevant, it is the policy wording that matters.
