What is the difference between Flood Insurance and Home Insurance?

When you first contemplate buying insurance, there are many various terms and policy choices that can be easily misinterpreted. Many consumers don’t realize the full scope of what their policies cover. What are the deductibles and limits on the policy? What special situations are covered in the auto or homeowners policies? All of these questions are easily answered by calling your insurance agent or scanning your policy.

But not all insurance misunderstandings are innocent. If you believe some insurable incident is covered by your existing auto or homeowners’ insurance policy and it really isn’t, you could be exposing yourself to financial risks that you are unable to face on your own. One cause of this type of uncertainty involves flood insurance.

Many consumers believe that flood insurance is included in their homeowners’ policy. Unfortunately, this assumption is so common that many policy holders don’t ask their insurance agent if their homeowners’ insurance policy will cover the destruction caused by flood waters—they just assume that it will.  This assumption can turn out to be a very costly mistake after a flood actually occurs. Presuming that their homeowners insurance policy provides flood coverage stops them from taking the required steps to find out the truth about flood insurance and protect their family and their assets accordingly.

Now that we know that homeowners insurance policies do not cover damage caused by flood waters, let’s determine what actually comprises of flood waters. The National Flood Insurance Program defines a flood as:
“A flood is a general and temporary condition where two or more acres of normally dry land or two or more properties are inundated by water or mudflow.”

The definition of a flood is simple to understand, but the reason that many homeowners think it’s included in their insurance policy is because many of the events that can cause floods cause other damages that are covered under a homeowners insurance policy. For instance, a hurricane may cause wind damage to your home that is covered in your policy, but it may also cause normally dry land to be briefly flooded by water, which could seep into your house and damage your floors and furniture—but because those are flood waters, they will only be covered if you have a flood policy.

So call us to get your flood policy in place today, whether you live in a flood zone or not. It’s protection that isn’t covered in your homeowners policy but needs to be in place to keep your family safe. Call us today at (888) 269-6860.

How do insurance companies assess drivers’ risk?

When you apply for an auto insurance policy, before the insurance company can issue the policy they must try to foresee how much risk you will be worth if the policy is written. This helps them to manage the claims experience they have, determine whether or not to issue your policy and, if they do issue your policy, decide how much to charge you for it. The process during which they assess your risk is called underwriting.

While underwriting your auto insurance policy for coverage, underwriters will take into account various criteria including your previous driving record. They will obtain a motor vehicle report (MVR) to see how many tickets, accidents and other driving incidents you’ve had, what the tickets have been for, and decide how much influence those actions have on your current driving habits. Some of your past behavior—like speeding—will make you a riskier candidate to insure than others. This is because your past deeds and choices imply something about your personality and habits. Someone who has been cited with several speeding tickets in the past is more likely to have an accident and has also shown a propensity to ignore the legal speeding limit. This shows that the driver might be liable to disregard other driving laws and safe driving practices, therefore making him more likely to have an accident resulting in an insurance claim. Read more on underwriting for auto insurance.


As an independent agency we can offer our clients what direct writers cannot; More Choices and Better Rates.  We combine old fashion values and service with only select companies that provide stable financial stability. Contact or call us today for a free South Carolina auto insurance quote at (888) 269-6860.