Flood Education

What's Covered

Flood insurance policies cover physical damage to your property and possessions. You can use the following list as a general guide to what is and isn't covered or simply refer to the Summary of Coverage (PDF) to help you better understand your policy and coverage.

Building Property

• The insured building and its foundation
• Electrical and plumbing systems
• Central air conditioning equipment, furnaces, and water heaters
• Refrigerators, cooking stoves, and built-in appliances such as dishwashers
• Permanently installed carpeting over unfinished flooring
• Permanently installed paneling, wallboard, bookcases, and cabinets
• Window blinds
• Detached garages (up to 10 percent of Building Property coverage)
  • If more coverage for detached garage is needed, a separate Building Property policy is required
  • Detached buildings (other than garages) require a separate Building Property policy
• Debris removal
• Maximum Limits:

Coverage Type — Building Property	Coverage Limit
One to four-family structure	$250,000
Other residential structures	$250,000
Business structure	$500,000

Personal Contents Property (Always valued at Actual Cash Value)

• Personal belongings, such as clothing, furniture, and electronic equipment
• Curtains
• Portable and window air conditioners
• Portable microwave ovens and portable dishwashers
• Carpets that are not included in building coverage
• Washers and dryers
• Freezers and the food in them
• Certain valuable items such as original artwork and furs (up to $2,500)
• Maximum Limits:

Coverage Type — Personal Contents	Coverage Limit
One to four-family home contents	$100,000
Other residential contents	$100,000
Business contents	$500,000
Renter contents	$100,000

What's NOT Covered

• Damage caused by moisture, mildew, or mold that could have been avoided by the property owner
• Currency, precious metals, and valuable papers such as stock certificates
• Property and belongings outside of an insured building such as trees, plants, wells, septic systems, walks, decks, patios, fences, seawalls, hot tubs, and swimming pools
• Living expenses such as temporary housing
• Financial losses caused by business interruption or loss of use of insured property
• Registered vehicles such as cars, including their parts (See Section IV.5 in your policy.)

Basements and Areas Below the Lowest Elevated Floor

Coverage is limited in basements regardless of flood zone or date of construction. It's also limited in areas below the lowest elevated floor, depending on the flood zone and date of construction. These areas include:

• Basements
• Crawlspaces under an elevated building
• Enclosed areas beneath buildings elevated on full-story foundation walls that are sometimes referred to as “walkout basements”
• Enclosed areas under other types of elevated buildings

For more information on this topic, please review the NFIP Manual.
Make sure to ask your agent for additional details on your basement coverage.

Source: Floodsmart.gov