Flooded car claims are a rare occurrence, but they do happen. Here are some things you should know beforehand
Watching your car get caught in a flood is a nightmare. Once it's been soaked, a skilled repair shop might be able to restore it to working condition, but it's just as likely to be a total write-off. Filing flooded car claims with your insurance company can be another nightmare, but there are steps you can take ahead of any potential claim to make sure you will be protected and even properly compensated should a flood claim your car.
Do you have the proper coverage options in place?
While flooded car claims will usually be handled through your comprehensive coverage, it's probably a bad idea to wait for a disaster to begin unfolding before adding such coverage to your policy. Some insurance companies will even restrict sales of such policies to customers who live in storm paths or in flood plains. There are also some companies who will sell you a comprehensive insurance policy but specifially add a flood exclusion to your coverage.
Get free quotes on car insurance policies designed to protect against flood losses
Before you put your car insurance coverage package in place, be sure you review any and all exclusions to your policy. You don't want to be surprised in the aftermath of a severe weather event that floods your car. Likewise, if you live in an area where flooding does occur or if you live in hurricane country, be sure your agent has gone over what coverage options you have available to you to protect against these hazards before you settle on a coverage plan.
Early and timely filing -a good claims strategy
If a flood of some sort does head your way and wrecks your car, it is never a good idea to wait to file a claim. Even if the flood smashes your entire block and totals every car for miles around, you should file your claim as soon as possible, so your claim is near the top of the stack when it comes time to start processing and paying out. For a large disaster event that strikes a big area or highly-populated region, it's possible that a delay in filing of even a single day could delay the ultimate payout on your claim by several weeks as the backlog of new claims grows unmanageable.
Start documenting early
When filing a flood claim, it's also important to document the condition of the vehicle as quickly as possible. In the event of a major flood, it could easily be several days or weeks before a claims inspector can make it out to have a look at your car. By the time a rep gets to take a look, your disaster-totaled vehicle might have been sitting out in the elements for weeks. That can complicate the process as an adjuster will have to determine the damage caused by the flood as opposed to the damage caused by the weeks of the car sitting neglected in your yard.
The claims inspector might not have any way to know what caused the damage, which is why photographs taken in the immediate aftermath of the destruction may prove valuable later on when your carrier starts making noises about how the car might have been damaged some time after the flood.
To repair or to total: that is the question
In the face of serious flood damage to your car, the majority of the time your flooded car claims are going to result in the declaration by your insurer that the car is a total loss. If, on the off-chance, your claims adjuster determines that the damage can be repaired and your car properly restored to its pre-flood condition, you may have a choice between selecting a mechanic and/or body shop that you trust or sending your car to a repair facility pre-selected by your insurer. Unless you completely trust your own mechanic and body shop, you may want to go with the preferred provider(s) recommended by the insurer. This guarantees that the repairs will be backed by your carrier. Repairs after a flood can be tricky, so you'll want to be covered if the damage is more serious than you thought.
If the damage is hopelessly irreparable, you will find yourself embarking on the journey into the land of totaled cars. If your insurance company's adjusters determine that the flood ruined your car beyond even the best mechanic's ability to repair it, it will be declared a total loss. The adjusters will then determine what the current market, Blue Book or actual cash value of your car was before the flood and issue you a check for that amount (minus whatever the deductible was you had in place on the coverage option where this claim will be filed.)
If you worry about having to file flooded car claims, this guide can provide more information about car insurance coverage to protect you against that
In some cases, as with major events like a massive flood or record-breaking hurricane, many insurance companies have been known to waive the deductible, but that isn't always the case,
(Consult this guide for a more complete description of the processes involved in totaled cars claims.)
If you live in an area where floods are common or where serious seaonal weather patterns routinely create flood conditions, this should certainly be a consideration your car insurance agent raises with you before finalizing any policy you put in place. Trying to add special coverage options after the fact never works. If you don't have a car insurance agent or if you feel you could benefit from some competitive proposals, we can help you in this effort. Reply! can put you in touch with local car insurance agents near you who will be able to help you put all the right coverage options in place well before you ever have to make a flooded car claim.