@melvin123 suggested I start a new thread so this info isn’t lost in the other thread.
Came across this article which may be beneficial for those of you who are affected or may have family in the disaster areas.
Apparently if you take a low interest loan from the SBA you are penalized when the grants are doled out.
How awful. So people are encouraged to apply for these loans so they can get rebuilding funds more quickly, and then that makes them ineligible for grant money later. Figures…
@greenwitch I know, how awful.
I suppose it depends on how long someone is willing to wait. If it’s going to take months and months to get a grant, then it makes sense to take out the low interest loan. I wonder what the criteria are for having the loans approved. Is it possible that those who receive them are in a better financial position than those who would easily qualify for a grant? Or is this $$ available to anyone who has been affected by a flood or hurricane?
I guess the bigger question is why don’t more people have the insurance coverage they need.
We are not completely covered for the flooding we are likely to experience this weekend because the flood policy limits are not adequate. It’s capped by the government and there isn’t anything I can do about it. We are not in Florida now so have asked a friend to move some things upstairs. I still worry that we are going to exceed the coverage if the storm surge is really 10-15 feet.
We have flood insurance in HI as well. As posted above there are caps on policy limits and required deductibles of 10% of the value of the property.
The coverage is several thousand $$ every year. Hurricane coverage is several additional thousand $$ every year. In the years we couldn’t afford the premiums, we went without insurance coverage.
We have friends who live right across the beach. They do NOT have flood insurance because they say the premiums are too high though they are within 200 yards of the ocean.
I’m sure the 85% who don’t have flood insurance and perhaps hurricane insurance felt the premiums were beyond their budgets and just couldn’t stretch to cover those additional premiums.
I don’t doubt that the premiums may be more than some can afford but I imagine that there are also people who choose not to have that coverage because they think that it will never happen to them. I’ve met several such individuals in SC. I’m aware of the caps and the deductible amounts as we have both for our SC home.
Yes, I never thought we’d be at risk of flood or hurricane but our insurance agent convinced us the peace of mind is priceless, and it is.
Previously when our budget was very tight, we honestly never thought we’d need it but then the tsunami in Japan and multiple hurricanes we’ve been facing in HI have convinced us that the coverage is definitely worthwhile for us, tho we hope it’s never needed.
We have flood insurance and the limit for damage to the structure of our house is $250,000. This is well less than half of what we paid for the house.
For hurricanes, our deductible is higher and the payout is lower for wind damage associated with any named storm. A good reason for meteorologists to stop naming storms! I know that hurricanes will be named but why are they naming winter storms now? Maybe they’re in cahoots with the insurance companies.
In any case, by having insurance we may have made ourselves ineligible for any government assistance. I hope to happily pay my premiums and never need to find out.
While living on an ocean or a river is a very desirable life style there are risks. While some cannot afford the insurance others are willing to take the risk. If disaster strikes they then want the government/taxpayer to pay for the damage.
What we pay when we buy property includes the value it the land + the value of the house. We are also capped at how much coverage we can get did flood and hurricane insurance, after devastating hurricanes in HI caused HUGE damage claimed.
The houses in our neighborhood are selling at close to 7 figures for tear downs! When the home is something folks want/plan to live in or even remodel, prices are higher, so land values alone can be quite high. $250k is the max insurance coverage we are allowed, I believe.
And it has the weird (but I guess foreseeable) effect of driving up prices to unrealistic and unsustainable levels.
I have mixed feelings about it all.