Does hurricane insurance cover flood damage?

If you live in an area where hurricanes are likely, then it’s important to have hurricane insurance. Your coverage will cover all kinds of problems that can arise from a hurricane, but what about flooding if the hurricane doesn’t hit your home directly (or even if it does)? What exactly will hurricane coverage benefits pay for?

To start with, having coverage for a weather event requires a hurricane to hit your area and to cause damage to your property. If a hurricane hits an hour north or west, you aren’t likely to be able to make a claim. However, something like high winds may be covered if you can show that your home or business was in the pathway of hurricane-related gales or tornadoes spinning off a hurricane.

What does hurricane insurance cover?

In its most basic form, a quality hurricane insurance policy covers:

• Storm surge damage
• Damages from heavy rainfall (like downed trees)
• Wind damage

When you build your hurricane insurance policy for your home or business, you will want to make sure that you have a strong homeowner’s insurance policy with windstorm insurance, sewer back-up coverage and flood insurance. If any one of these is missing, then you may not have full coverage.

Will flooding from a hurricane be covered?

It may be if you have flood insurance built into your coverage. Some types of homeowner’s insurance and hurricane policies only cover damage from wind or heavy rain, though, and not flooding itself. In those cases, you may need additional flood coverage. Remember, flooding can also lead to sewer back-ups, so you’ll want to have that kind of insurance added onto your home insurance policy if you can.

Can you buy hurricane insurance without flood insurance?

Yes, and this is where some home and property owners get into trouble. Not all policies have flood insurance included, so you may need to ask for it when you apply for insurance. Make sure you check for this coverage. If you don’t have it, call your insurance company to add it on for your location, since flooding is a major risk during a hurricane.