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A NFIP policy insures against direct physical loss by or from flood to items such as:

• Your dwelling
• Additions and extensions attached to your dwelling
• A detached garage
• A manufactured home or travel trailer when properly anchored
• Personal property, if you purchase this coverage

• Debris removal
• Loss avoidance measures, like sandbags, supplies and labor
• Cost of moving your property to protect it from flood
• Increased cost to comply with state or local floodplain management laws
• Condominium loss assessments

See the policy for a full description of these coverages, their limits and exclusions.

You can buy a policy from the National Flood Insurance Program, as long as your community participates in the NFIP. Nearly all of the nation’s communities with serious flooding risks have joined the NFIP. Call Foremost to find out if your community participates.

You can purchase flood insurance anytime. There is a 30-day waiting period after you’ve applied and paid the premium before your policy is effective.

Exceptions to this rule:

• If you purchase flood insurance in connection with making, increasing, extending or renewing a loan, there is no waiting period.
• If you purchase flood insurance during the 13-month waiting period following the effective date of a revised community flood map, there is a one-day waiting period.

Also, the NFIP policy does not cover any loss in progress. This is any flood damage that began before the effective date of the policy.

Most homeowner policies do not provide coverage for flood. It’s rare to find one that does. Check your policy’s Declarations page to see if coverage for flood is listed. If you’re not sure, call your insurance representative.

The National Flood Insurance Program states that between 20 to 25 percent of its claims are from outside high-risk flood areas.

Before a community is eligible for disaster assistance, it must be declared a federal disaster area. These declarations are issued in fewer than 50% of flood occurrences. If it is declared a disaster area, most assistance is provided as a loan that must be repaid with interest. The interest is often higher than the average $400 a year premium of a NFIP policy. In low to moderate risk areas, a NFIP policy can be purchased starting at just over $100 a year. Plus, you may be required to purchase a flood insurance policy as a condition of receiving federal disaster assistance.

The NFIP defines flooding as a general and temporary condition during which the surface of normally dry land is partially or completely inundated. Two properties in the area or two or more acres must be affected. Flooding can be caused by:

• The overflow of inland or tidal waters,
• The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source, such as heavy rainfall,
• Mudslides, i.e. mudflows, caused by flooding, that could be described as a river of liquid and flowing mud,
• The collapse or destabilization of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water, resulting from erosion or the effect of waves, or water currents exceeding normal, cyclical levels.

No. Rain entering through wind-damaged windows, doors or a hole in a wall or the roof, resulting in standing water or puddles, is considered windstorm, rather than flood damage.