- Most homeowners and renters policies won’t cover flood damage. If you're at risk, consider buying flood insurance.
- Flood insurance covers damage from scenarios such as heavy rain, overflowing rivers and storm surges.
- Flood insurance pays to repair the structure of your home and replace damaged belongings.
Most home insurance policies don’t cover flood damage, which can cost you thousands of dollars even if there's just an inch of water. To protect yourself financially, consider buying separate flood insurance. Here’s how it works.
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What does flood insurance cover?
Flood insurance covers specific kinds of water damage to your home and belongings. These scenarios include:
A river, lake or bay that overflows its banks.
A hurricane storm surge.
A heavy downpour that accumulates faster than it can drain.
Melting snow that seeps into your home.
A mudflow. (Note that a mudflow isn’t the same as mudslides or landslides, which aren’t covered.)
Homeowners, condo, renters and mobile home insurance policies generally don’t cover flood damage. So if your home is at risk of flooding, you’ll need to buy this coverage separately.
Types of flood insurance coverage
The NFIP offers two types of flood insurance — building and contents — each with a separate deductible. A deductible is the amount of a claim you’re responsible for paying.
Building coverage
Building coverage is insurance for the structure of your home. (It’s similar to dwelling coverage on a homeowners policy.) It pays for flood damage to things like:
Electrical and plumbing systems.
Furnaces and water heaters.
Foundation walls.
Built-in appliances and cabinets.
Permanently installed carpets.
Detached garages.
Fuel and well water tanks.
Solar energy equipment.
Staircases.
The NFIP offers building coverage up to $250,000.
Contents coverage
Contents coverage pays for damage to your belongings. On an NFIP policy, this includes:
Clothing.
Furniture.
Electronics.
Valuable items like original artwork or furs (up to $2,500).
Washers, dryers, microwaves and portable air conditioners.
Carpets installed over wood floors.
The NFIP covers your stuff on an actual cash value basis. This means that if you file a flood insurance claim, your payout will reflect what your belongings were worth at the time of the flood.
Example: Say floodwaters damage your 15-year-old recliner beyond repair. An NFIP policy will pay enough to buy a used recliner of similar age and quality — not enough for a new one. Multiply this type of gap by every item in your home, and you may find that your insurance payout isn’t nearly enough to replace what you lost.
NFIP policies offer up to $100,000 of contents coverage.
Flood insurance coverage beyond the NFIP
You may be able to get broader coverage and higher limits by buying flood insurance through companies that don’t work with the NFIP.
For example, Neptune offers building coverage up to $7 million and contents coverage up to $500,000. Meanwhile, Chubb’s limits go up to $15 million total for your home and belongings. Both companies can cover your belongings on a replacement cost basis. That means you could replace your old, flood-damaged recliner with a brand-new one.
Learn more about private flood insurance.
What doesn’t flood insurance cover?
The standard NFIP policy won’t cover certain expenses, including:
Most of your basement
If you have a basement, it’s probably the most likely part of your home to flood. But many homeowners are surprised to learn that the NFIP’s coverage for basements is minimal.
As noted above, an NFIP policy will pay for damage to major appliances such as central air conditioners and water heaters. But it won’t cover things like furniture, electronics, finished floors, bathroom fixtures or generators.
If you have a finished basement, look into private flood insurance as an alternative to the NFIP.
Some water damage
The NFIP pays for damage only when naturally occurring flooding affects at least 2 acres or two properties. That means it won’t cover scenarios such as an overflowing bathtub that floods your bathroom. (Your homeowners insurance may cover that problem.) And if yours is the only house on the block that floods, you might be out of luck.
Damage to certain items and parts of your home
The NFIP won’t pay for flood damage to any of the following:
Swimming pools and outdoor hot tubs.
Decks and patios.
Landscaping and fences.
Wells and septic systems.
Currency and valuable papers.
Living expenses if you can’t stay at home
If you need to move into a hotel or rent an apartment while contractors repair your home after a flood, you’ll have to pay those expenses yourself.
Vehicles
NFIP insurance won’t cover cars or other “self-propelled vehicles.” However, if you have comprehensive insurance on your auto policy, that coverage should pay for flood damage.
Is flood insurance required?
Some people have to buy flood insurance. For example, many mortgage lenders require homeowners in high-risk flood zones to have flood insurance to get a loan. And if the federal government has given you grants or other flood assistance in the past, you may need to have flood insurance to qualify for future aid.
If you don’t fit the categories above, you don’t have to carry flood insurance. However, even a small amount of flooding could cost you thousands of dollars.
If you’re not sure how likely your home is to flood, there are a couple of places you can check. First, visit the Flood Map Service Center from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Type in your address to see whether your home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area.
Another tool to try is the website for a private company called First Street, which uses climate change data to measure flood and other risks. Enter your address at the top of the homepage to see your home’s risk of flooding, wind and other issues.
To learn more about how to assess your home's flood risk, see Do I Need Flood Insurance?
How much flood insurance do I need?
The flood insurance coverage you need depends on the size and structure of your house and the value of your belongings.
An insurance agent can help you figure out how much building coverage to buy. Meanwhile, a home inventory is a good way to assess how much your stuff is worth.
If the NFIP doesn’t offer enough coverage, ask your insurance agent about excess flood insurance to fill the gap. Excess insurance offers higher coverage limits that kick in once you’ve exhausted your NFIP coverage. It's available from private companies like Wright and SWBC.
Alternatively, you can look for private flood insurance with higher limits.
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How much is flood insurance?
The average federal flood insurance policy costs about $976 a year, according to NerdWallet’s analysis. You could pay more or less depending on where you live, the size of your home and other factors.
To see the average flood insurance premium in your state, see How much does flood insurance cost?
How flood insurance works
Flood insurance works like many other insurance policies. To get a payout, you’ll need to file a claim with your insurer. You can usually do this by calling the company or agent who sold you the policy.
The insurance company will typically send an adjuster to your home to inspect the property and document the damage. They’ll then determine whether you have coverage under your policy. (For example, if you have only building coverage, the insurance company won’t pay for damage to personal belongings such as furniture or clothes.)
Once the insurer verifies your coverage and the extent of the damage, it will send a payout that you can use to make repairs or replace lost items. Any deductibles that apply will be subtracted from your claim payout.
How to get flood insurance coverage
You have several choices for buying flood insurance. The NFIP works with about 50 insurers to sell its policies, so you may be able to get coverage from the same company that offers your auto or home insurance.
You must live in one of the thousands of communities that participate in the program to buy an NFIP policy. (Here’s information on participating communities.)
If NFIP insurance isn’t available in your area, look for private flood insurance companies. Even if you do have access to NFIP insurance, you may be able to get lower rates from a private insurer. A local independent agent can help you shop around.
You may want to give your insurer an elevation certificate to see if it can help lower your premium. An elevation certificate states the lowest floor elevation of your home, which the insurer will use to determine your home’s flood risk.
You can get an elevation certificate from your local flood plain manager or hire a land surveyor or engineer to complete one for you.
When is flood insurance required?
- You live in a high-risk flood zone, which typically begins with A or V on FEMA flood maps.
Is flood insurance tax-deductible?
Is all flood insurance through FEMA?
Methodology
NerdWallet used the National Flood Insurance Program’s most recent “Policy Information by State” report to calculate the average cost of flood insurance in each state and across the country. To determine the national average, we divided the total written premium for all communities across the U.S. by the total number of policies in force.
Rates are based on both residential and non-residential policies.
