If you let your flood insurance lapse and then got hit by Helene, you may be able to renew it
WASHINGTON — Residents of states affected by Hurricane Helene who had coverage through the federal flood insurance program but if you let it decay before the storm hits, you may be able to renew it and still be protected from the impact.
The Federal Agency for Emergency Management said late Thursday that certain policyholders in seven states affected by Hurricane Helene, whose insurance has expired, now have additional time to renew their coverage.
Normally, people who have a policy through the FEMA-run National Flood Insurance Program are given a 30-day grace period after their policy expires, when they can renew and still be covered for anything that happens during the grace period. The agency extends that until November 26.
For example, if someone’s policy expired on August 28, they would normally have had until September 26 to renew it without risking coverage lapse. But now they have until November 26 to extend.
The agency recommends policyholders contact their insurance company to see if this applies to them.
“By extending the grace period for policy renewals, we are giving our policyholders some breathing room and demonstrating that the National Flood Insurance Program will stand with them in times of tremendous grief and difficulty,” said Jeff Jackson, the program’s interim senior executive .
The Category 4 hurricane struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 before moving north trillions of liters of water dumped across multiple states.
Most private insurance companies do not carry flood insurance, and flood damage is usually not covered by homeowners’ insurance policies. The National Flood Insurance Program is the primary provider of residential flood insurance coverage.
Congress created the program more than 50 years ago, when many private insurers stopped offering policies in high-risk areas.
But the extended grace period only helps if people have flood insurance in the first place. Experts estimate that only about 1% of inland homeowners who suffered the most catastrophic flood damage had flood insurance.