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The past few years have seen insurance premium costs rise considerably for several types of coverage, and home insurance is certainly among them in many parts of the country. This seems to have led to concerns about the added costs that come with additional policies, even if those plans could end up being extremely beneficial. Recently, many Phoenix residents learned the hard way that going without might be a major issue in the event of flooding, and it might therefore be incumbent upon insurance agents to make sure that their clients are adequately covered.

People may not think of Phoenix as being a hotspot for rain or flood damage, but the fact of the matter is that there is significant risk involved in that area, according to a report from the Arizona Republic. As such, many might have been very upset to learn that their policies did not cover damage done during a recent flooding event in the city, often because they simply didn't understand what their plans did and did not cover.

What's the difference?
Because of a common misconception, many Americans may not know that flood damage is not treated the same by most home insurance companies as water damage, such as from a leak, the report said. Consequently, insurers may need to do more to help their policyholders understand the risk involved with not carrying flood insurance specifically, and this may also be true for auto policies that likewise do not cover flood damage.

""There's a huge knowledge gap among the public regarding flood insurance,"" Chelci Vaughan, a spokeswoman for a major insurer in Tempe, told the newspaper.

Insurance agents should try to do as much as possible to make sure their clients are fully covered in the event of a weather event for which they could potentially be at risk, and explaining the situation to a customer could go a long way toward making them feel better about the issue. The fact is that insurance agents typically have far more success when they're able to provide high-quality customer service than those that simply let it go by, or even when they try to bring the occasional discount. For this reason, having a strong relationship and simultaneously helping people reduce their costs could be a good way for agents to dramatically improve their satisfaction rates.

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