Insurance policies, particularly the homeowners variety, are strange and fickle creatures. When it comes to fire damage, everything is usually covered, but when it comes to water or flood damage, there seems to be a great deal of wiggle room. Many homeowners don’t find out what is and is not covered by their policy until it is too late, by which time the damage is done and they are on the hook for repairs totaling in the thousands of dollars.

Basically, it boils down to this: if you want to talk about floods, forget it. Floods are not covered. Period. End of story. You can obtain coverage for an additional cost; just make sure your community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NIFP).

Other types of water damage may be covered (operative word is “may”), depending on whether or not the water damage is the result of negligence. If it can in any way be traced to human error, it will not be covered. If the damage was irrefutably the cause of a storm or other natural disaster, then you have a chance.

The bottom line is that insurance companies are not always your friend. The parameters of what does and does not constitute insurable water damage have fluctuated for years. You should sit down with your provider and have him spell out for you, in writing, what types of flood damage are covered and under what circumstance.

Don’t let disaster strike before finding out….you may wake up to some rather unpleasant realities.