The separate policy
Every homeowners policy in the United States excludes flood. Every one.
Flood — water rising from outside and entering at ground level — is excluded from homeowners policies throughout the United States. Cover for it is bought separately, usually through the National Flood Insurance Program, and it generally begins 30 days after purchase rather than immediately.
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What makes water a flood rather than a leak
Direction and origin. Water that escaped from the building plumbing is water damage. Water that rose off the ground and came in — from a river, from surface run-off, from a storm surge, from a failed drain outside — is flood, regardless of how much of it there is or how clean it looks.
The same storm can produce both in one house: rain through a roof the wind opened is usually covered by the homeowners policy, while water that came under the door is not.
This is why an adjuster asks where the water entered before asking how deep it got.
The 30-day waiting period, and what it means today
NFIP cover generally starts 30 days after you buy it. FEMA publishes that on its own flood insurance pages. A policy taken out while a storm is on the forecast answers for nothing in that storm, which is precisely what the waiting period exists to prevent.
There are narrow exceptions, principally where flood cover is required as a condition of a mortgage closing. If that is your situation, the lender will know the detail.
If you do not hold flood cover and water rose into your home, the practical position is that this loss is yours. Federal disaster assistance may follow a declaration, but assistance is not insurance and the amounts are not comparable.
Being outside the mapped zone is not the same as being safe
A large share of flood claims come from properties outside the high-risk mapped areas. Maps describe modelled risk at a point in time; they do not describe where water goes during an unusual storm, and a map redrawn after you bought the house may already put you somewhere different.
Your county pages on this site show what share of local homes sit in the mapped zone and what share of those carry cover. Outside the zone, the take-up is usually close to nothing.
Contents and structure are separate cover
NFIP building cover and contents cover are bought separately. A homeowner with only building cover finds the structure answered for and the furniture not. Renters can buy contents cover on its own, and generally cannot buy building cover at all.
Basements are treated restrictively under NFIP even where cover is held. Finished basement improvements are largely excluded, which surprises people every season.
Where each reader stands
Flood divides people by what they own and what they bought.
- 01You own and hold flood cover. Report to the flood insurer separately from any homeowners claim. They are different policies and often different companies.
- 02You own and do not hold it. Get the building dried anyway, keep every receipt, and check whether a federal declaration has been made for your county.
- 03You own it and rent it out. Your building cover does not touch the tenant belongings, and most tenants have no flood cover at all. Say that early and in writing.
- 04You rent here. Contents-only NFIP cover exists for tenants and is inexpensive. Without it, a flood leaves your belongings entirely uninsured.
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What to ask before you agree to anything
Ask these of whoever turns up. A contractor who answers them plainly is the one you want; a contractor who will not is telling you something.
- 01Where did the water enter, and how are you recording that?
- 02Are you treating this as contaminated water, and what changes if so?
- 03How high are you cutting the drywall, and what determines the height?
- 04Is the insulation coming out, and how do you dry the cavity afterwards?
- 05What documentation will you give me for a flood claim specifically?
- 06What licence do you hold, and where can I check it?
Have this ready before you call
Three facts move the first minute past the formalities: what happened, when it started, and whether water is still moving. These add the detail that decides what gets loaded on the van.
- Whether you hold separate flood cover, and roughly since when
- Whether water entered at floor level, from above, or both
- How deep it got at the deepest point
- Whether the street or the yard flooded too
- Whether there is a basement and whether it is finished
- Whether a federal disaster has been declared for your county
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Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is published by someone other than us, and each link goes to their own text rather than to a summary of it.