Business Department

Most Pennsylvania policies do not include protection from flooding, though help may be available from the government

With the recent rainfall, approaching torrential at times, having saturated the ground, the inevitable flooding throughout Chester County has presented significant hardship for many residents. Many are confused regarding their rights for financial recovery and, more particularly, whether they have a claim to their insurance companies to compensate them for their losses.

Unfortunately, most water infiltration, typically referred to as "flooding," is excluded from standard homeowner's insurance policies written in Pennsylvania. Typical language in an insurance policy will exclude water flowing over the ground and water under the ground surface pressing on, flowing or seeping through: foundations, walls, floors or paved surfaces, basements (whether paved or not), doors, windows or other openings. This excludes just about all water infiltration that we consider flooding. Another aspect of water infiltration is water that flows into the house due to backup or overflow of sewer or drain lines. An option in many policies is to exclude this sewer backup exclusion-that is, to include sewer backup in the policy. However, an additional premium is typically charged for that exclusion.

It should be noted that water damage due to penetration through other damage to the property in a storm, such as a tree falling through your roof or crashing through a window, is typically covered by the standard homeowner's policy. Many storms can bring about both kinds of damage and a homeowner should be careful to document what damage may have been caused by flooding, which may be excluded, and water damage caused by infiltration through damage to the home, which usually is covered. The homeowner should photograph or videotape all of the damage to his or her property and demonstrate how the water infiltrated the property to cause the damage. The homeowner should also immediately contact their homeowner's insurance carrier to allow the carrier to document the damage and how the damage came about.

The National Flood Insurance Program
While most homeowner carriers do not provide any flood insurance (there are rare exceptions), almost everyone in Chester County can purchase federal flood insurance. The insurance can be purchased through insurance companies or their agents as a supplement to a homeowner or business policy. (To determine whether your township or borough participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, log on to www.fema.gov/fema/csb.shtm and click on Pennsylvania. More than 4,000 communities throughout Pennsylvania participate, and thereby allow their residents to purchase National Flood Insurance.)

National Flood Insurance is relatively inexpensive and the premiums vary depending on the risk assessment of your property and the amount of coverage you wish to purchase. The maximum coverage for a residential property is $250,000 on your home and $100,000 on personal property. Further, there is usually a $500 deductible that may double in the higher risk categories. (You can assess your risk by logging on to www.floodsmart.gov and entering your address.)

With summer storms upon us and hurricane season just around the corner, Chester County residents should contact their insurance agents and determine exactly what kind of water damage is a covered loss under their policies. Then, investigate the availability of National Flood Insurance and purchase it as supplemental insurance to your homeowner's policy. There is a 30-day waiting period for coverage to take effect on new policies, but if you act immediately, National Flood Insurance may give you additional peace of mind.

MacElree Harvey
17 West Miner Street
Post Office Box 660
West Chester, PA 19381–0660
p | 610.436.0100
f | 610.430.7885
f | 610.429.4486
e | info@macelree.com