Flood Insurance

The Cost of Flooding
Use the tool below to see how much damage a flood can cause

Mortgage:

Government-backed mortgages are required to have flood insurance
Flood insurance is not federally required, if you live outside of the high-risk area, a lender may still require you to have a flood policy.

Disaster Assistance:

If you live in a high-risk area and have received FEMA direct assistance grants or low-interest disaster loans from SBA you must maintain flood insurance in order to be considered for any future disaster assistance.

Flood Insurance is regulated through the NFIP, which creates a standardization for insurance policies. The cost of a policy will be based on multiple factors such as:

Flood Risk
The type of coverage being purchased (building and contents coverage)
The deductible and amount of building and contents
Location of the structure
The design and age of the structure
location of your structure's contents.

Elevation:
Properties in high-risk areas that were built after the first FEMA flood maps, the elevation of the building in relation to the base flood elevation is also a factor.

Flood insurance payouts, based on what your policy covers, will be paid out separately between building and contents.

For residential properties- a homeowner can have up to $250,000 for the building and up to $100,000 for the contents.

The money received for the damage to your building is designed to repair the damaged building. If a homeowner decides not to put those funds back into the repairing of the home, then that money could be considered a duplication of benefits if the homeowner participates in a federal program or disaster assistance in the future.

My Flood Insurance Payout Went to My Mortgage Lender:

If there is a mortgage loan on the home, many times the insurance funds will be sent to the lender since they have the largest interest risk in the home.

The lender will only keep the funds to pay down/off the loan if the homeowner decides not to repair/rebuild the structure.

The homeowner works with the lender to release the funds in phases as repair/rebuild progresses. The lender will send out inspectors to make sure that the funds released go back into the home as intended.

For detailed information on flood insurance visit floodsmart.gov