Flood Insurance
Your homeowner’s policy does NOT cover flood expenses. Your homeowner’s policy can cover water back-up damage caused by sump failures and drains, but not flood damage. A Flood Insurance policy is a separate policy whose coverage depends on several factors, most importantly, your Flood Zone rating.
There are three programs for Flood insurance
- Emergency – The coverage is very limited.
- Regular – This encompasses most of our area (for Flood Zones known as A, AE and Y). This coverage is mandatory for those buyers financing their purchase from a federally regulated or insured lender.
- Preferred – Flood Zones B, C and X fall into this category and will typically have lower premiums due to the lower risk of damage from floods.
The maximum amount of coverage for your home would be $250,000, plus an additional $100,000 for your contents in the Regular or the Preferred Program. The maximum amount of covered costs under the Emergency program would be $60,000. Excess amounts are available through specialty markets.
A standard 30-day waiting period is typical before flood insurance coverage goes into effect. However, this coverage can be put in place immediately upon closing on the sale of or re-financing a property. If the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) changes, policies purchased during the 13-month period after the new FIRM’s effective date are subject only to a one day waiting period.
