Should we get Flood Insurance for Allen, Tx 75013? (Tyler, Longview: lender, how much)

[homehunter09]

I have yet another question relating to our first house. Please don't be tired of me, yet. My husband is researching for home insurance and here are our questions:

1. Should we get flood insurance? Our house is just west of Hwy 75, close to Allen Outlet. The area is suppose to be low-mod flood risk from the internet.

2. Any recommendations for a good home insurance company/agent?

3. Any other suggestions for shopping and selecting home insurance coverage?

Thanks so much!!

[Big G]

My $0.02 is - always get flood insurance. There's nothing home insurers love more than coming up with ways to claim any water damage is "flood" related.

[Grainraiser]

If your in a flood zone your lender will require that have it. If your not it's your option. Are there any creeks nearby or are you in a low lying area. You need to somewhat survey the area to determine if it is a worth wise investment or not.

[dixierambler]

Flood insurance is relatively cheap. It's up to you how much coverage you want to purchase. But know this, if you EVER have water that "rises up" (insurance language) from the ground, for ANY reason, your homeowner coverage WILL NOT cover you. This includes rainfall, creeks overflowing, storm drains backed up, water main breaks, or just about any other scenario you can think of that would cause water to rise up and enter your home.

[Rakin]

I disagree with all the above unless you will be very near a creek. Find a good insurance person you trust & talk to them about flood insurance.

Very few places in this area actually need it. JMO

[KittySkyfish]

We've been with USAA for a long time and they're excellent, though you'll have to be associated with the military to get it. We pay about $110 per year for flood insurance.

I definitely recommend flood insurance around here. I'm in the 75013 zip code as well (just off of Bethany and Alma) and this area gets occasional heavy downpours. That, combined with our clay soil, can present water runoff problems. We don't live near a creek and our yard is reasonably sloped away from the home, but we still needed to install a dry creek + french drain along the side yard to channel water away from the house because that was an area where water was prone to standing.

Many homeowner policies consider water runoff and mudflow from heavy rains to be flood issues and won't cover it unless you have additional flood insurance. I do recognize that no two policies and agencies are alike so it's possible there are exceptions to this norm - but never assume it's automatically covered.

[sumith007]

Since u have the corner plot,i dont think water will stay in ur plot,why cant you just visit ur plot after a rain? I am saying this bcoz its raining very badly here now...Is there a creek nearby? Any my 2 cents.

[dixierambler]

Originally Posted by Rakin

I disagree with all the above unless you will be very near a creek. Find a good insurance person you trust & talk to them about flood insurance.

Very few places in this area actually need it. JMO

Tell that to the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people that didn't think they needed flood insurance last year when Hurricane Ike came through. I'm not talking about the wind damage, or even rain entering through damaged roofs. But homes and basements (yes, there are a few basements in Texas) that were flooded due to heavy rains and storm water rising up and flooding their homes.

A good insurance person, which you recommend, will encourage flood insurance. That way, when I get called out to adjust your flooded property, I can say, congratulations Mr. Homeowner, you will be getting a check to cover your flooded home. Instead of having to say, I'm sorry Mr. Homeowner, your homeowners policy doesn't cover rising water, so you will not be receiving a check.

[Rakin]

If you were near the coast I would agree with you but there was very little damage here in DFW from IKE. There has not been one person get on here and tell a story of being flooded out from the hurricane.

About the only people around here who need it back up to creeks.

[dixierambler]

How about Lufkin? Is that far enough from the coast? My brother in law has a home in a typical neighorhood that flooded during Ike. No creek around. He didn't have flood insurance because of this kind of thinking. He called me to see if there was anything I could do for him. Sorry. I'm not gonna jeopardize my license and livelihood because he is too hard headed to buy flood insurance. Besides that, I didn't work for the same company where he had his insurance. Or what about Tyler, Longview, or even Texarkana? Are they far enough away fom the coast? All these areas experienced flooding to various degrees. Just because Ike's path didn't come through DFW, don't think it can't happen this far inland. It can. Hey, if you know you're not ever gonna be flooded, don't buy the insurance. Nobody's forcing you. I'm just sayin....