Excess flood insurance: Why NFIP isn't enough

Many homeowners stricken by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were very unhappy when they made a claim on their National Flood Insurance Policy (NFIP) and discovered that the limitation of coverage of $250,000 on the building was insufficient to cover the cost of repair to their property. Those homeowners needed an excess flood insurance policy to provide additional coverage over the amounts offered in the government program.

In general, the number of people who buy flood coverage is below the number of who should carry it. Last year’s Midwest floods damaged many hundreds of properties. Sadly, government estimates revealed that only 17 percent of the affected structures had NFIP coverage or any coverage at all for that matter.

Every insured needs to be advised that if their property is in a designated flood zone, the property is eligible for the following NFIP limits:

• Dwelling building: $250,000
• Personal property: $100,000
• Commercial building: 500,000
• Business personal property: $500,000

Obviously, there are many homeowners and businesses in flood-prone areas that have values far in excess of the national program, which is based upon flood plain zones developed by the Army Corps of Engineers.