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The COMPLETE Guide to Private Flood Insurance

Logos for Flow Flood, RocketFlood, FEMA, Wright Flood, and Neptune Flood
Logos for Flow Flood, RocketFlood, FEMA, Wright Flood, and Neptune Flood

Private Flood Insurance Guide

When considering flood insurance options, many people first think of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). However, there is another option – private flood insurance. With innovative and data driven approaches to rating, private flood insurance from companies such as Neptune Insurance can often offer lower premiums than NFIP policies.

The cost of flood insurance can vary greatly depending on the property location and the level of risk. As a result, the cost of flood insurance can be much lower than most would expect for homes outside of high-risk areas. With Coastal Insurance, you can see in under 3 minutes how much it would cost to secure your home with a flood insurance policy.

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Inside and Outside of High-Risk Flood Areas

In high-risk flood areas, mortgage companies often require homeowners to purchase flood insurance as a condition of the mortgage. However, even if you don’t live in a high-risk flood area, it’s important to remember that floods are unpredictable and can happen any time. According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), 20% of flood claims come from properties outside of high-risk flood areas. It’s important for all homeowners to consider purchasing flood insurance, even if it’s not required by their mortgage company. Taking a proactive approach to securing flooding insurance for your home is key as flood insurance almost always has a waiting period. This means that the coverage will not go into effect immediately after purchasing the policy. Typically, there is a 30-day waiting period before coverage begins, so it is important to secure insurance well before any possible flooding appears on your weather forecast.

Private Flood Insurance Companies

The growth of private flood insurance companies offers consumers more choices, often with better coverage options and competitive pricing. Whether you’re looking for AI-driven solutions, personalized policies, or the backing of a global insurance giant, the market now offers something for everyone. Several companies have distinguished themselves as the top private market flood insurance companies by offering innovative solutions, advanced technologies, and superior customer service.

neptune flood logo
Neptune Flood

Founded on the principle of harnessing the power of technology, Neptune Flood offers AI-driven flood insurance solutions. Their platform simplifies the insurance-buying process and offers coverage for homes, condominiums, and commercial properties. Neptune utilizes advanced algorithms and big data to assess flood risks accurately, ensuring that policyholders get the right coverage at competitive rates. Their online platform allows for seamless policy management and claims processing.

flow flood blue
Flow Flood

Flow Flood prides itself on offering flexible flood insurance solutions tailored to individual needs. With a focus on customer-centricity, the company provides a range of options for residential and commercial properties. Flood recognizes that no two properties are the same and provides customizable coverage options, giving policyholders peace of mind that they are adequately protected.

aon edge logo 03
Aon Edge

Aon Edge, backed by the global powerhouse Aon, is a leader in private flood insurance. Their in-depth knowledge of the market, combined with extensive resources, positions them to offer top-tier flood insurance solutions. Aon Edge benefits from the global expertise of Aon, ensuring policyholders are backed by robust financial stability and an unmatched understanding of the risk landscape. Their consultative approach ensures each policy is tailored to individual needs.

hippo home insurance logo 03
Hippo

While Hippo is renowned for its home insurance products, it has also made significant inroads into the flood insurance market. Integrating modern technology with insurance practices, they provide a holistic approach to property protection. Hippo stands out for its tech-driven approach. The company’s user-friendly platform allows customers to manage policies and make claims online. Their proactive risk management tools also help homeowners identify and mitigate potential risks.

The Private Flood Insurance Advantage

While the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a well-known option for flood insurance, the market for private flood insurance continues to gain momentum. Private flood insurance policies are offered by private insurers and can often provide more comprehensive coverage options and flexibility compared to NFIP policies.

Private flood insurance policies can offer higher coverage limits, ensuring that homeowners have adequate protection for their property and belongings. A flood insurance policy splits your home’s building coverage and contents into two primary coverages against flood risk:

  • Building coverage: for your home protects the building itself as well as attached fixtures, plumbing and electrical systems, furnaces, and water heaters, carpeting and flooring, and more. Your building coverage also protects detached garages and solar energy equipment. Refrigerators, stoves, and built-in dishwashers fall under this coverage as well.
    • The NFIP caps coverage at $250,000 for single-family homes.
    • A private market flood insurance policy can provide coverage up to $4,000,000.
  • Contents coverage: offers protection for your belongings. This coverage includes clothing, furniture, electronics, and detached appliances, such as washers, dryers, and microwaves.
    • The NFIP provides up to $100,000 in actual cash value coverage
    • A private market flood insurance policy can provide coverage up to $1,000,000.
Private flood insurance policies may cover additional items and structures that NFIP policies do not, such as detached garages, sheds, and certain personal property. Flood Insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) does not cover structures that are not permanently attached to your home such as a garage, pool house, or shed, and grills. The NFIP also specifically excludes coverage for swimming pools. However, private market options like Neptune will cover swimming pool repair & refill costs up to $10,000 if that coverage extension is chosen. Additionally, Neptune offers up to $50,000 in optional coverage for unattached structures.
Private flood insurance policies often have shorter waiting periods before coverage becomes effective. With standard NFIP policies, you’ll have to wait 30 days from the time we write coverage until your coverage goes into effect. FEMA does this to prevent people from buying just-in-time coverage when a major weather event on the forecast.
Private flood insurance premiums can be competitive, offering homeowners potentially more affordable coverage options. When choosing between the private market flood insurers, its important to compare quotes from multiple carriers as the coverage and rates will vary based on your home, and how the rating methodologies determine your risk for flooding. Here, at Coastal Insurance Solutions we offer an online quote platform for private flood insurance that enables you to compare up to 10 rates from leading private market flood insurers in less than 3 minutes.

Private Flood Insurance Rates

Flood insurance premiums can be influenced by several factors that assess the risk of flooding for your property. Here are the top factors that impact your rate:

Location

The proximity to bodies of water, coastlines, and flood zones significantly affects the cost. Properties located in high-risk flood zones, such as Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), typically have higher premiums.

Elevation

The elevation of your property in relation to floodplains and base flood levels can impact the rate you pay for private flood insurance. Higher elevations often lead to lower flood insurance premiums.

Flood Zone

Properties in different flood zones have varying levels of flood risk, which directly affects the insurance rates. Areas deemed as high-risk zones will typically have higher premiums.

Building Characteristics

The construction of your home, its age, foundation type, and structural features will impact the premium.

Coverage Amount

The amount of coverage you select for your property directly influences the premium. Selecting higher coverage limits and optional coverages will lead to higher premiums.

Deductible

Your selected deductible you choose for your flood insurance policy affects the premium. Going with a higher deductible can lower your premium but does increase your out-of-pocket expense in the event of a claim.

Higher available coverage limits and more competitive rates

With innovative techniques to assess risk more accurately, tech-savvy private flood insurerds offer higher available coverage limits and more competitive rates. As an example, Neptune Flood leverages LiDAR technology, the same tech used by NASA and the US military, to build its flood risk maps. By leveraging technology, it possible to predict flood risk more accurately, creating a market for private flood insurance policies that exceed the coverage of traditional NFIP policies.
Unlike the modern rating methodology used by private market flood insurance companies, FEMA’s rating system for pricing policies prior to October 1, 2021, used older risk rating methods focused on 100-year flood maps coupled with building elevation. By implementing Risk Rating 2.0, the NFIP has enriched its data to include third-party sources, added new rating criteria, and leveraged technology to rate policies based on individual property risks. In short, because of Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP rates will go up for some property owners, but down for others. This change aims to price flood risk more accurately based on modern rating methodology and a better understanding of per-property loss risk.
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Excess Flood Insurance

An excess flood insurance policy extends the coverage limit of a base policy. With a policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), your maximum coverage limits would be:

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Maximum Coverage Limits:

Structures:

$250,000

(buildings and essential systems)

Personal Property:

$100,000

(non-auto standalone contents)

With average home prices closing in on $500,00, there would be a $250,000 coverage gap. With higher value homes, the gap widens. That’s where excess flood insurance policies come into play. An excess flood policy can protect your home’s full rebuild value by stacking the excess coverage on top of the base policy. Essentially, your main flood policy provides coverage up to your limit (a maximum of $250,000 with an NFIP policy), and then your excess policy fills the gap up to the coverage limit you’ve chosen for your excess flood policy. You are unable to buy an excess flood insurance policy as a standalone policy as it always works in a pair with a base policy. However, you can replace an NFIP policy with a private market policy featuring higher maximum coverage limits. Often a private market flood insurance policy replaces the need for an excess flood insurance policy altogether.

Compare Private Flood Insurance Quotes

Homeowners can compare flood insurance quotes online in minutes with Coastal. Simply enter your address and a few details about your home and you be comparing multiple online quotes in under 3 minutes. Count on the flood insurance experts at Coastal Insurance Solutions to guide you through your options and ensure you have the coverage needed to better protect your home.

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About the Author

David W. Clausen is the CEO of Coastal Insurance Solutions. With over 20 years' experience and over 1 billion insured, David and Coastal Insurance Solutions are the recognized leaders in high net worth insurance. For the fourth consecutive year, David Clausen has been awarded Top Producer by Insurance Business America and the 2023 Agents of The Year by Insurance Journal. David is a trusted high net worth insurance expert who’s published more than 200 articles. His articles & press releases have generated over 500K pageviews and has been featured on blogs such as Google News, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, Market Watch, Fox, The New York Times, etc. David founded Coastal Insurance Solutions in 2001 after earning a BBA from the State University of New York College at Oswego.

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