Does Your Car Insurance Cover Flooding?
Does Your Car Insurance Cover Flooding?
It could happen with very little notice. There is a torrent of rain or several other disaster that causes a flood and completely destroys your vehicle. To not worry, right. That's what insurance was invented for. But are you currently sure your car insurance covers flooding? You may be surprised if you examine your policy.
What Are the Odds of Experiencing a Flood?
Your odds of actually being caught in a flood are more than you think. Many people cite this as the main reason that they don't specifically learn about flood insurance, or purchase flood insurance separately if they don't have it. They believe that the odds to be in a flood are roughly the same as being hit by a meteor the size of New Jersey, however the odds are now pretty good that you'll experience a flood 1 day, and the chances that it may happen sometime within the next year aren't that far off either.
Floods are measured in cyclic measurements to denote their strength. Like, there is a 25-year flood, 50-year flood and a 100-year flood. What this basically means is that floods are inevitable and the longer that you are with this planet, the stronger the flood that you'll likely experience. Needless to say, these numbers do vary a little from area to area, but they are the average for the United States.
Consider this: You carry car insurance because you may have an incident one day. In fact, the odds are so good that you'll have an accident, that what the law states says you have to carry basic liability insurance to legally operate a car in the United States. However your chances to be caught in a 25-year flood are actually better than your chances of experiencing a vehicle accident. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that you have of a 4% chance to be in a 25-year flood, but just a 3% of experiencing a vehicle accident, and your chances of being in a 50-year or 100-year flood aren't much better, with a 2% and 1% chance respectively.
What Is Flood Insurance?
Just what is flood insurance exactly and what does it cover? The solution compared to that will vary only a little with different policies, but in general, flood insurance claims are either for a specific number of damage or declared a total loss, meaning the vehicle must be replaced rather than repaired.
Should you have flood insurance as part of your policy, you will need to file your claim as quickly as possible. Depending upon your insurance company, you can file over the phone, online or via a smartphone app. Your automobile could be declared a total loss for a couple of different reasons: an illustration is really a flood that involved saltwater. If your car or truck is exposed to saltwater, you may not know that the automobile is damaged, but your car or truck won't last long with saltwater damage.
If your car or truck should indeed be classified as a complete loss, you could have some specific options that your insurance adjustor will talk to you about.
A very important factor that you ought to be conscious of when you yourself have a total loss vehicle and you choose you will fix it up and drive it anyway, you might not be able to get a comprehensive policy again on your own vehicle. The reason being it is likely to be issued what's called a “salvage title” and that'll often keep it from certain kinds of insurance coverage.Even though you are able to get insurance for your salvaged vehicle, you may have to cover huge premiums because the insurance company will deem an automobile with a salvage title to become a major risk.
How to Know if You Are Protected
Most of the time, if you intend to be protected from the flood, you will need to go with comprehensive coverage, where fire, theft and needless to say, floods, are covered. Liability, or collision coverage, generally doesn't cover floods, but you might still have a clause in your insurance contract that may help you receive money for repairs, so check your policy carefully.
Steps to Take When Your Car is Damaged in a Flood
The very first thing that you'll need to do if your car or truck is damaged in a flood is call your insurance company. If you have a comprehensive insurance plan, you might get yourself a check to restore your car or truck, but when you just have basic coverage, it is likely that the most you'll receive is some cash for repairs, that might not even be possible. Have patience and work with your insurance adjustor through the process.
The second thing that it is in addition crucial to do is get documentation as quickly as possible. If your car is completely underwater, you want to be sure that you get pictures, and even when it isn't, you'll still want good pictures. Take as much pictures as you can, from a variety of angles, including pictures of the license plate.
Third, try to minimize the damage as much as possible, especially any future damage that can happen. Like, if water is coming in through a broken window, tape it up and don't let any more water in. Also, be sure that you record anything you spend on the automobile, because you might be able to obtain reimbursed if you can prove that you actually bought those things.
Don't try to begin the vehicle if it was under water. Check the seats or the floorboards to see if they're still damp if you're checking the car following the water went completely down. Also, do not start the car if the air filter is wet.
Finally, be aware that cars are not meant to obtain wet, and you might have serious problems in the future getting the car back up and running long-term. In many cases, an upgraded vehicle will undoubtedly be required.
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