State Farm makes changes to flood insurance for manufactured homes

Jack Spikes loves the view from the back porch of his manufactured home on the bank of the Chattahoochee River near Columbia.

The flow of the lazy river is peaceful, calm. He remembers seeing alligators in the river and coyotes near the home, as well as other wildlife. It’s why he made his vacation getaway a permanent residence several years ago.

“This was once the best kept secret in the Wiregrass,” Spikes said.

But Spikes can take a walk off his back porch and point to the watermark that still exists on a nearby structure almost 20 years after the Chattahoochee left its banks and flooded the area. He can point to another place where the water rose in 1995.

Spikes said he remembers filing insurance claims on the flood, included as a part of his regular homeowner’s policy.

“And they paid, right away,” he said.

Last month, however, Spikes received a letter from State Farm which said changes were being made to all manufactured home policies in the state. Flood insurance would no longer be included in the regular homeowner’s policy. Spikes said he was offered a separate flood insurance policy for $2,500 a year.

“That’s more than I can pay,” Spikes said.

Local State Farm agent Don Thompson said the changes were a simple matter of profit and loss. He said State Farm was one of the few agencies that had continued to offer the flood coverage at no extra cost, and could not afford to include it any longer.

“We had been paying thousands of flood claims without collecting the proper premiums,” Thompson said. “Just couldn’t give it away anymore.”

Thompson said the changes affected several of his clients around the Chattahoochee and Lake Eufaula.

“Most of them understood,” Thompson said.

But $2,500 is too steep for Spikes. He said he plans to take his chances.

“The Corps of Engineers has done a real good job of controlling the flow. It hasn’t flooded in a long time,” he said.

“But you never know.”