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Start today ...what happened in South Carolina can happen
anywhere at any time!
Extreme rainfall events have many labels - regardless of their names or probabilities - they happen everywhere! There are storms that occur in the U.S. each year that are many times greater than the "100-Year Storm." Here are five reasons why everyone needs flood insurance:
Consumers are uninformed about flood coverage--Your duty to your clients is to educate them and offer a flood policy to every owner. Only 21% of property owners across the southern states have flood insurance, and other regions are even less insured. After the South Carolina flood and after all of the others the most common quotes found include: - "We don't live in a flood zone and like a whole lot of people had no realization that we would ever be in danger of a flood."
- "We don't have a flood policy because we had no idea we would ever need one. There are so many questions: if you don't live in a flood zone, are you even eligible to buy flood insurance? We don't know how it all works, it's very complicated." South Carolina expects horrendous losses from flood damage to top $1 billion
Low risk doesn't mean no risk- Whether in SC or across the country. In fact, nearly 25% of all flood claims and 1/3 of flood disaster assistance is for properties outside of the high risk flood zone. Don't become one of the thousands who gamble with flood risk. Russ Dubinsky, Executive Director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service, said a flood policy could cost as little as $200 in low-risk areas. "It's sad and unfortunate in retrospect, a policy that costs relatively little could have protected against such a catastrophic event, but most people don't buy flood insurance unless their lender says they have to have it," he said. South Carolina expects horrendous losses from flood damage to top $1 billion Levees and dams can and do FAIL- America's dams earned a "D" in The American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) most recent Report Card for America's Infrastructure (2013). About 4,000 dams in the country are in need of repairs - and about half of those deficient dams could cost lives if they were to fail. There are more than 87,000 dams in the U.S. and the average age is 52 years old: - Texas has the most dams - more than 7,000 - followed by Kansas (6,374), Georgia (5,132), Missouri (5,119), and Oklahoma (4,925).
- Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, and North Carolina each have more than 3,000 dams.
- Four states - Alabama, Nebraska, South Carolina, and South Dakota - each have more than 2,000 dams.
- More than 1,000 dams are in each of 13 additional states.
- Of all states, Delaware has the fewest number of dams, with 83. Read more: Association of State Dam Safety Officials
#4. There is a 1 in 100 chance that a flood will happen in any given year. - The "once-in-a-thousand" phrase does not mean the storm occurs once every 1,000 years, but rather that there is a 0.1% chance of such an intense storm occurring in any year." South Carolina Floods: Climate Change Intensified Conditions
- "You can, in theory, have a 1,000-year flood the very next day," said Brenda Ekwurzel, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. ...In a 1,000-year flood area, there's a one-tenth of 1 percent yearly chance of flooding, but that doesn't mean there will be 1,000 years between floods." Historic,1,000-year flood like nothing SC has ever seen
As an insurance adviser it is your duty to help property owners understand their risk from flood. The information we have provided here will help you do that. Be a hero provide your clients with the ability to rebuild, repair, or replace their possessions ... sell them a Flood Policy!
For more resources to help you sell flood insurance, please contact your Regional Sales Manager or Flood Marketing at 866-373-5663.
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