Wildfires in the west, hurricanes in the southeast, the constant looming threat of the "big one" in California, floods across the midwest — it's all driving demand for so-called "disaster insurance."
These policies are usually purchased as add-ons to a standard property insurance policy and, theoretically, cover you when a disaster not covered by the base policy.
According to Vince Lefton, CEO of Bulldog Adjusters, more policies are being purchased after a lot of people felt they dodged a bullet by living just outside the paths of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. And the prices are going up as those "100 year storms" are now coming more and more frequently.
The demand has only intensified in the months following those hurricanes, even as news reports detail how little insurance companies are actually paying out to those homeowners hit hardest by the storm.
Are they worth the extra cost?
Work + Money reached out to insurance pros and asked them when someone should consider buying disaster insurance and how to go about it. Here's what we learned: