Monday 29 October 2012

Flood Insurance + Hurricane Sandy = A Sign? | Budgets Are Sexy

hurricane sandy nasa shot

So I don?t know if this is a sign or not, but we literally JUST got a notice in the mail asking if we wanted to renew our flood insurance for the year ;) Right as Hurricane Sandy is about to hit hard and wreak havoc all around us! Yikes. (For all you reading this right now on the East coast, I hope you?re doing okay and you?re nice and safe!)

And the funny thing here was that I was literally just telling the Mrs. last week that we should probably fore go it this round because odds are we won?t need it, haha? And then of course news of Hurricane Sandy hits and everyone starts freaking out. I didn?t go anywhere this weekend with someone mentioning how bad it?s going to be, or how much water/sand/batteries they still need to get to survive this once in a lifetime storm. And now because of everyone else I?m scared too! Haha? but as my wife puts it, better to be safe than stupid. So I guess it couldn?t hurt that we stocked up a little bit too.

But anyways, back to the flood insurance stuff. By a show of hands, how many of you think it?s worth it? And how many of you have actually *purchased* some? Unfortunately I can?t see your hands right now (or maybe I?m right behind you? Boogy boogy!) but with everything, it probably depends on your comfort levels and how much risk you?re willing to accept. And where you actually reside too ? though humans being what we are, there?s no telling what we could mess up and accidentally cause some flooding ourselves :( I?m just as scared as that as I am it all coming from the outside in! Haha? I ain?t no handyman, that?s for sure?

Last year we signed up to it because one of the major storms DID scare us into thinking a flood could happen at any time, even though the closest body of water was pretty far away. When it just pours and pours all day long around you, though, you can?t help but wonder if it?ll eventually rise up and force itself right into your home. And with me being gone so much with Love Drop (we were flying to a new state once or twice a month), the last thing I wanted to do was worry the Mrs. even more and have to clean up the mess if God forbid it came to that. So the extra protection w/ the flood insurance def. made us feel better ? knowing we can just call up USAA right away and get the process of resolving things started ASAP. It made a lot of sense last year.

hurricane sandy sandbagsBut here we are, 12 months later, and we?re right back to making the decision yet again. Do we shell out more money for another year and gain that peace of mind, or do we take the risk and bet on the odds the flood(s) will never come and save some hefty cash?

It?s a weird situation ?cuz on one? hand you DON?T want to use it if you buy it because it means something bad just happened, haha, but on the other hand you DO because you?ve been paying for it so long! :) I guess it?s kinda like car insurance in that regard, only that?s usually mandatory and more likely you *will* end up using at some point or another unfortunately.

Anyways, here was everything swirling in my mind before we made a decision:

  • This hurricane going around us right now is just nuts.
  • If this one doesn?t cause water damage, is it possible other ones will later this year?
  • Do we want to tap our Monster Savings if the $hit hits the fan and we didn?t sign up?
  • Or do we just pony up the measly $200 (in the grand scheme of things) and cover us a ton more?
  • How much is that peace of mind worth?
  • How annoying is it to reconsider this every single year?? (Haha?)

After some thorough chats and beers last night, the wife and I decided to just bite the bullet and pay the premium again so we can have one less thing to worry about going forward. Yes it sucks we?re out a cool $200 now, especially with all the other stuff we?ve needed to maintained around this house lately, but at the same time we?d be incredibly PISSED at ourselves if God forbid something happened and we had to activate it. I think the money lost greatly surpasses the fear of regret in this particular instance. Mainly because it would just be so incredibly expensive if a flood DID take over our entire basement! Or any other areas of the house for that matter.

So that?s what we did. We shelled out the money and locked it in once and for all as we brace for this crazy hurricane to hit. Making USAA either super brilliant with their timing of these notices being mailed, or the Big Man upstairs is trying to give us a sign to make sure and pay attention ;) Regardless though, we think it was the best move.

Here was the coverage we got:

  • Building coverage: $30,000
  • Contents coverage: $12,000
  • Deductible (for both building and contents each): $1,000
  • Amount this will cost us for one year: $191

Now we just pray this hurricane dies out before anything crazy happens! It will be pretty bad if we lose electricity considering my job depends on it, haha? Oh well? As long as we?re all safe and sound I?ll be one happy blogger :) Hope you guys stay out of trouble too! The fingers are a crossed.

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(Top photo by: NASA Goddard Photo and Video. Bottom one by: J$.)


Source: http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2012/10/flood-insurance-renewal-hurricane-sandy-a-sign/

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