Good reason to carry Flood & Windstorm Insurance

Thought this was an interesting article regarding the need to have Flood Insurance on your property. It doesn't cost that much and with it and Windstorm coverage on the property your better protected if a storm hits.

Supreme Court limits insurance company liabilityTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Sept. 21, 2007 –

Insurance companies can be required to pay only for actual damages and just those resulting from covered perils such as wind storms or fires – not other causes – the Florida Supreme Court said Thursday in two rulings affecting homeowner policies.The opinions, both unanimous, rejected prior appellate court decisions that let hurricane victims whose homes were a total loss collect up to their windstorm policy limits even though flooding was at least partly to blame.One ruling could affect an undetermined number of people who lost homes to hurricanes in 2004. Nearly all are victims of Hurricane Ivan and did not have federal flood insurance or their damages exceeded flood policy limits.Most are customers of the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which stands to save nearly $150 million as a result of the ruling, said Citizens spokesman Rocky Scott. Citizens general counsel Perry Cone said the decision affects about 200 lawsuits pending against the company including class actions with multiple plaintiffs.The Legislature in 2005, though, changed state law to clarify that wind policies provide coverage only for wind damage – not flooding.“The Legislature only fixed something the courts should have gotten right in the first place,” said William Stander, a spokesman for the Property Casualty Association of America.