After the storm
Whether you are paid depends on which direction the water came from
Two homes on the same street, the same amount of water, and one owner is paid while the other is not. This is the line that decides it.
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Short answer. If water reached the house from the ground up, that is a flood, and a standard homeowners policy does not cover it. If wind opened the building and rain came in through the hole, that is wind damage and the homeowners policy does cover it. The cause of entry decides, not how much water there was.
The line FEMA draws
FEMA states it directly. Flood insurance covers damage caused by water entering your home from the ground up, through storm surge, heavy rainfall, or a body of water overflowing. And then the other side of it: if rain is propelled into a covered structure by wind, that is wind-driven rain and it is not covered by the flood policy. Roof damage that lets water in through the ceiling is water damage resulting from wind damage, which is a homeowners matter.
Source: FEMA / NFIP, Wind Damage Versus Floodwater Damage fact sheet, March 2023.
What the NFIP actually calls a flood
The definition is narrower than people expect, and the two-acre and two-property test is the part that surprises them:
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties (one of which is your property) from: overflow of inland or tidal waters; unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or mudflow.
Source: FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Claims Handbook, August 2024.
The 30 days nobody remembers until it is too late
A new flood policy normally does not take effect for 30 days. Buying cover as a storm approaches does not work. There are narrow exceptions, including a policy bought in connection with a mortgage closing, and a one-day wait for cover bought in the 13 months after a Flood Insurance Rate Map revision.
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services, Flood Disaster FAQs.
How the Florida hurricane deductible works
It is a percentage of the dwelling limit, not a flat sum, and insurers must offer 2%, 5% and 10% options, with a $500 minimum option on most policies. Two details matter more than the percentage:
- It is triggered when the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning covering any part of Florida, and it stays in force until 72 hours after the last watch or warning for the state ends.
- While it applies, no other deductible in the policy may be applied to that event.
- If more than one hurricane hits in a calendar year, the later claim uses whichever is greater: what is left of the hurricane deductible, or the standard all other perils deductible.
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services, Florida's Hurricane Deductible.
The clause that can leave you paid by neither
Some policies carry what the insurance bar calls an anti-concurrent causation clause. In plain terms: where an excluded cause contributes to a loss, the clause can exclude the whole loss even though a covered cause contributed too. In a hurricane that brought both wind and water, the wind insurer can point at the flood and the flood insurer can point at the wind.
Florida's leading case on this is Sebo v. American Home Assurance Co. (Fla. 2016), which found that where some exclusions in a policy carry that language and others do not, the ones without it may still allow coverage.
The deadlines, from the statute
| A new or reopened claim | notice within 1 year of the date of loss |
|---|---|
| A supplemental claim | notice within 18 months of the date of loss |
Source: Florida Statutes section 627.70132, as amended through the 2025 session.
What to document, and in what order
- Photographs and video of every damaged area, with notes on the serious damage.
- An inventory of damaged personal property, with purchase dates and costs where you have them.
- A list of damage to the structure, including the garage and any shed.
- Written contractor estimates that itemise materials, prices and labour.
- Receipts for emergency repairs, and for a hotel or meals if you cannot stay in the house.
- Photographs from before the loss showing the condition the house was in.
- A record of every conversation with the insurer, the adjuster and the contractors.
Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Post-Disaster Claims Guide.
Where this comes from
Every figure above is published by the organisation named beside it. Nothing on this page is our own estimate.
- FEMA / NFIP, Wind Damage Versus Floodwater Damage, March 2023
- FEMA, NFIP Claims Handbook, August 2024
- Florida Department of Financial Services, Flood Disaster FAQs
- Florida Department of Financial Services, Florida's Hurricane Deductible
- Florida Statutes section 627.70132
- NAIC, Post-Disaster Claims Guide
- Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog, Concurrent Causation in Florida