Florida Flood Insurance

Many homes and businesses in Florida are located in designated flood zones, so it should come as no surprise that flood insurance providers pay out around $17 million in flood claims a year in this state alone. If you own property in the Sunshine State, you can benefit from purchasing a flood insurance policy. 

For Florida residents, having flood insurance can mean the difference between recovering after a major disaster or complete financial devastation. The average cost of flood insurance in Florida is $592, and it is well worth it after a tropical storm or hurricane hits the Florida coast or lingers inland.

An independent insurance agent can help you find Florida flood insurance. 

What Is Flood Insurance and Why Is It Important in Florida?

Flood damage is specifically excluded from the coverage provided by conventional insurance policies like home insurance, renters insurance, and business insurance. 

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), however, just one inch of rainwater in your home can cause as much as $25,000 in damage. When flooding is severe and widespread, the resulting property damage can be overwhelming. 

That is why the federal government stepped in in 1968 and created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This program provides affordable coverage to people at risk of sustaining flood damage. 

Flood insurance is guaranteed. You cannot be turned down due to being in a high-risk location, nor will your rates go up if you have filed a claim. 

Companies That Offer Flood Insurance in Florida

You can buy flood insurance in Florida in one of two ways: 

• NFIP: Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968 to help provide a way for property owners to financially protect themselves from flood damage. Flood insurance from the NFIP is available to homeowners, renters, condo owners, and business owners in communities that participate in the program. The NFIP is a government-backed program, which means its rates are the same regardless of where you buy coverage. The NFIP partners with more than 50 insurance companies and thousands of independent insurance agents across the country to offer flood insurance. 
• Private flood insurance: You can purchase private flood insurance in Florida as an alternative to the NFIP. Flood insurance from private insurance companies may be cheaper and faster to get than policies from the NFIP, which come with a 30-day waiting period for coverage to begin. Private flood insurance may also provide higher coverage limits. Conversely, a private insurance company can cancel your policy if your home is deemed too risky, whereas an NFIP policy cannot be canceled for that reason. 

Here are some top insurance companies in Florida that offer private flood insurance:

• Progressive
• Liberty Mutual
• Florida Peninsula
• REInsure Pro

What Does Flood Insurance Cover in Florida?

Flood insurance from the NFIP consists of two types of coverage that reimburse you for physical damage to your property: building/structural coverage and contents coverage.

If you are a renter, you’ll only need to purchase contents coverage since your landlord will be responsible for fixing damage to the home's structure. If you are a landlord, you will need much less contents coverage since your tenant will be responsible for covering their own belongings.  

For homeowners, policies can be purchased with limits up to $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for the building contents. These are typically purchased separately with separate deductibles.

Business owners can purchase up to $500,000 in building coverage and $500,000 in contents coverage. These are typically purchased separately with separate deductibles. 

• Building/structural coverage protects:
  • The insured building and its foundation
  • Electrical and plumbing systems
  • Furnaces and water heaters
  • Refrigerators, cooking stoves, and built-in appliances like dishwashers
  • Permanently installed carpeting
  • Permanently installed cabinets, paneling, and bookcases
  • Window blinds
  • Foundation walls, anchorage systems, and staircases.
  • Detached garages
  • Fuel tanks, well water tanks and pumps, and solar energy equipment
• Contents coverage protects:
  • 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
  • Clothes washers and dryers
  • Food freezers and the food in them
  • Certain valuable items, such as original artwork and furs, up to $2,500

You will want to buy enough coverage in each category to suitably cover your property. A local independent insurance agent can help you find flood insurance in Florida.

What Does Flood Insurance Not Cover in Florida? 

As with any insurance policy, flood insurance has some limitations. This means that not all flood-related damage is covered. Some things your policy will most likely exclude from coverage include: 

• Damage caused by moisture, mildew, or mold that the property owner could have avoided
• 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 the insured property
• Cars and other vehicles and their parts
• Personal property kept in a finished basement

In addition to these exclusions, coverage for basements and areas below the lowest elevated floor is limited. These exclusions may apply to basements, crawl spaces, walkout basements, and enclosed areas under certain types of elevated buildings. 

It’s important to understand the limitations of your Florida flood insurance policy before disaster strikes so you don’t have to deal with any unpleasant surprises. An independent insurance agent can help explain your coverage to you. 

Is Flood Insurance Required in Florida? 

If you have a mortgage on your property and it is located in a FEMA-designated flood zone, your lender will likely require you to cover it with flood insurance until your loan is paid in full. Otherwise, flood insurance is optional. 

Whether or not you are required to carry flood insurance, it is usually a good idea, even if your home or business is in a low-risk area. In fact, according to FEMA, from 2014 to 2018, policyholders outside of high-risk flood areas filed over 40% of all NFIP flood insurance claims and required one-third of federal disaster assistance for flooding.

Important Update for Citizens Insurance Customers

In order to encourage more Florida homeowners to purchase flood insurance and in an effort to quell an ongoing homeowners insurance crisis in Florida, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 2A in December 2022. This bill requires Floridians who have home insurance policies with Citizens Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort, to purchase flood insurance by 2027.

Those living in a FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Area (flood zones that start with A or V) must have flood insurance by April 1, 2023, if you are applying for a new Citizens Insurance homeowners policy. (If you live in one of these areas and have a mortgage, you’re probably required to have flood insurance already.) 

If you live in a Special Flood Hazard Area and are already insured by Citizens, you’ll need flood insurance by July 1, 2023, or by your next homeowners insurance renewal if it falls after this date. 

Save on Flood Insurance

Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.

Request a quote

How Much of a Flood Risk Is There in Florida?

Around 35% of all properties in Florida are at risk of sustaining flood damage. However, not all are covered by flood insurance. 

• Number of FL properties at risk of flooding: 1,857,424   
• Number of FL properties covered by flood insurance: 1,799,540

How does flooding occur in Florida? First, heavy rains can saturate the ground and overwhelm the drainage systems, causing flash flooding. Florida ranks fifth in the nation for average annual rainfall. 

• US average annual rainfall: 30.21 inches
• FL average annual rainfall: 54.5

In addition, hurricanes and tropical storms bring storm surges and heavy rainfall to this state, especially to cities located along the coast. With 1,350 miles of Florida coastline, these storms have the capability of impacting a lot of cities and towns. 

Flood damage can be very expensive, so a good flood insurance policy can potentially save you thousands of dollars. Flood insurance from the NFIP has a 30-day waiting period before coverage goes into effect, so make sure you apply for coverage well before rain and hurricane season. 

Average Cost of Flood Insurance in Florida

The NFIP traditionally used a standard calculation for flood insurance across the United States. Premiums for flood insurance were based on:

• Flood risk for your property (your flood zone)
• The type of coverage you purchased (just building coverage or building and contents coverage)
• The deductible and amount of coverage you need
• The location, design, and age of your home
• The location of your home’s contents 
• Whether or not your house has a basement

Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action, FEMA’s new flood rating system, uses a variety of flood risk data to set premiums based on each property’s individual risk rather than the risk for an entire community or neighborhood. 

The previous methodology set rates based on geographic zones and elevation. Risk Rating 2.0 uses the following factors to set flood insurance rates:

• Likelihood of your home flooding from various sources (flash flooding, floods caused by waves or high-water levels, coastal erosion, and more)
• Characteristics of your home (foundation type, first-floor elevation, etc.)
• Your home’s elevation and distance from flooding sources (coasts, rivers, lakes)
• Replacement cost value of your home’s structure (cost to rebuild after a disaster)
• Elements of your home designed to help it withstand floods, such as flood vents
• Nearby or relevant levee performance

On average, homeowners in Florida pay about $592 per year for flood insurance. This is 19.3% lower than the national average and may seem counter-intuitive considering the serious flood risk in the state. 

But because so many residents who live in low-risk areas have purchased flood insurance in Florida, the lower-cost policies have brought down the average. Many Florida residents will pay a lot more for flood insurance.

Average Florida Flood Insurance Costs by City

As we discussed above, Florida flood insurance costs rely highly on the real flood risk for a specific city, neighborhood, or individual home. It’s pretty simple: the higher the flood risk in a city overall, the higher the cost of flood insurance. 

There is a huge range of average flood insurance costs across Florida. The city on our list with the lowest-cost flood insurance is Aventura. On the other hand, Ft. Myers Beach, which was devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022, has an average flood insurance cost of $9,849 per year according to our research. 

Here’s a list of average annual flood insurance costs for top cities in Florida. 

Reducing Florida Flood Insurance Costs

There’s not a lot you can do about the flood risk where you live in Florida, and you certainly aren’t going to prevent tropical storms and hurricanes. But there are a few things you can do to find the best flood insurance rates. 

• Compare quotes from the NFIP and private flood insurance companies. You may find private flood insurance is cheaper.
• Choose a higher deductible. Higher deductibles lower the cost of your flood insurance policy. 
• Get a Florida flood elevation certificate. This is a document that outlines the flood risk for your property, with information like your flood zone and the height of your lowest floor. Insurance companies may offer a discount if you obtain and present this certificate to them. 
• Upgrade or retrofit your home to better protect it from flooding. Many insurance companies offer discounts if you do things like install hurricane shutters, grade your property so water moves away from it, or raise your HVAC unit above ground level. Even better, taking these actions can limit the damage a serious flood can cause to your home. 

An independent insurance agent in your area can help you, whether you’re purchasing NFIP flood insurance or private flood insurance. 

Save on Flood Insurance

Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.

Request a quote

Florida Flood Insurance FAQs

Why work with an independent agent in Florida?

Independent insurance agents in Florida can help you be sure that your property is sufficiently protected from the costs of flood damage caused by heavy rains, storm surges, and overflow events that are common in parts of Florida. 

Find an independent insurance agent near you to get more information and start reviewing quotes for Florida flood insurance.