At the neighborhood barbecues in beautiful Florida, occasionally the conversations meander their way to the inevitable questions about Florida insurance. "Do I actually need flood insurance?" or "Flood insurance is just for if it rains and my pool overflows, right? That's not likely." While pools overflowing can be a bit of a damper on one's spirits (if you'll pardon the pun), let's take a gander at the real definition of "flood" as it is defined in a typical "flood insurance policy".

Flood is defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as "a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

So if these conditions aren't met, then a swimming pool overflow would not be covered under a flood policy or any homeowners insurance policy. For a loss under a flood policy, a separate deductible applies to the structure, and another deductible would apply to the contents or personal property of the owner. Deductibles can be as low as $500 and up to $5000.

Good news! If the home suffering from flood damage is your primary residence and you live there at least 80% of the year, then a loss can be paid on a replacement basis rather than a depreciated or actual cash value basis.

And it's little conveniences like these that makes Headquarter Insurance the best at what we do -- serving you.