What is a basement assessment?  I read an article that said it is the only way we can purchase basement insurance.

A basement assessment is a new method of strengthening a basement’s walls before it starts leaking. Once the walls are treated they only have a small chance of leaking for fifteen to twenty years. It is correct that we have heard some insurance companies are offering basement insurance against the walls leaking afterwards. Usually you will find more basement companies providing the insurance themselves for a couple hundred a year. What is good about having an assessment done is the insurance fills in the gap between regular insurance and flood insurance. Regular insurance doesn’t cover floods, and poor foundation walls are not automatically covered.  Many inspectors in the South barely look at basement walls when they inspect a home with a basement.  That means the homeowner never discovers a problem until the walls have bowed and sometimes collapsed, which is really too late to do anything about it.