Virginia Honors Independent Agents for Efforts to Fill Flood Insurance Gaps

The Virginia House of Delegates passed a joint resolution that would designate the first full week in March each year as Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents Week beginning in 2019.

HJ 703, introduced by Del. Buddy Fowler (R-Ashland), recognizes the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia and its network of more than 4,000 Trusted Choice independent agents for their work in filling the gap in flood insurance coverage throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents Week would occur the week immediately preceding the National Weather Service’s Flood Awareness Week, which this year falls from March 12 through 16.

According to the legislation, only 3 percent of Virginians have flood insurance policies, even though more than nine percent of land within the commonwealth is located in designated flood areas. In addition, 68 percent of Virginians living in high flood zone areas do not have insurance policies to protect them in case of flooding.

“Last year, we saw what mother nature is capable of when it comes to flooding when Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas,” IIAV President and CEO Robert N. Bradshaw Jr. said in an IIAV press release. “Thousands of Carolinians were left without adequate coverage, leaving homeowners with huge out-of-pocket repair bills. We want to make sure everyone in Virginia is covered so that the same thing doesn’t happen here.”

Property owners have access to flood insurance through the federal National Flood Insurance Program, which requires insurance policies for all loans or lines of credit on buildings and homes located in participating communities.

According to FEMA, nearly $9 billion was paid by the NFIP in 2017, the third-highest mark over the last four decades.

“Just because your home isn’t in a high flood area doesn’t mean you don’t need flood insurance,” Bradshaw added in the release. “The average flood insurance premium is usually only a few hundred dollars each year, but the average flood damage claim is almost $50,000. To put it simply, make sure you’re covered. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a costly repair bill.”