How To Save On Flood Insurance

Location is the most important factor in the cost of flood insurance since it determines how high the risk of flooding is for your property. If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, you should make sure that your home and your possessions are adequately protected against floods. The cost of flood insurance will usually be higher when you are in a high risk area. However, even if you live on a floodplain, there are some ways in which you can save on your flood insurance.

You should make sure that your home is fitted with foundation vents or flood openings, which are designed to let water pass through the foundation walls. If the area around your house floods, these openings will protect your house by preventing hydrostatic pressure from building up and damaging the walls. It is recommended that you have at least two flood openings, which should provide one square inch of opening for every square foot of the enclosed area. The bottom of the openings should be no more than one foot above the ground outside your house. If your house is fitted with flood openings that meet these requirements, you will save a lot on your flood insurance.

Another way to save on your insurance is to make sure that all of the equipment and machinery associated with utilities such as heating, ventilation, plumbing and electricity are positioned above the base flood elevation. This is the level to which water is expected to rise if the area floods. By positioning your utilities above the level of the floodwater, for example in your attic, in a spare closet or on a raised platform, you can get discounted rates from your insurer.

Similarly, you can get cheaper flood insurance if your property is raised above the base flood elevation. Just raising the floor by one foot could have a significant impact upon your flood insurance premium. It will also significantly reduce the risk to your property in the event of a flood, by ensuring that everything in your house is higher than the level to which the floodwater is likely to rise.

Flood insurance will also be cheaper if you do not have a basement or a subgrade crawlspace. Most new houses built on the floodplain should not have these types of underground spaces. They are now usually backfilled as the house is being built. It is possible to fill them in after the house has been completed, using gravel or a similar type of filler. If you can fill in any spaces that are below the exterior grade or ground level, your insurer will be willing to give you a much better rate on your flood insurance.

Rather than making alterations to your property in order to save on flood insurance, you can also make savings by finding an insurer with better rates. It is important to shop around and to get quotes from a number of different insurers, although it is often possible to get a good combined rate for flood insurance from the insurer who provides your home insurance. The internet is a good place to start looking for possible savings on flood insurance. Browsing the web can result in finding free flood insurance quotes. The Marc Walson's Big Bucks Extravaganza website, for example, can help you make substantial insurance savings.