Flood · For owners
The street floods. Flood is usually its own policy.
Most property policies exclude flood. Flood insurance covers the building, and its contents if you choose, when rising water gets in from outside.
Light RFP Risk Management Services LLC · NY DFS License # PC-1978982
What flood insurance covers.
Typically covered
- Damage to the building and its systems when water rises or flows in from outside
- Contents you own, such as appliances and lobby furnishings, if you add contents cover
- Boilers, electrical panels and other mechanicals, though basements are often limited
- Debris removal and clean-up after a flood, on most policies
Where another policy answers
- A burst pipe, or rain through a roof a storm damaged: Commercial property
- A building under construction: Builder’s risk, if flood is added to it
Usually not covered
- Lost rent: many flood policies leave it out, so ask for it by name
- Land, landscaping and most property outside the building
- Tenants’ own belongings, which their own policies cover
Who on the block needs it.
Owners in a high-risk flood zone
If the loan comes from a federally regulated or federally backed lender, flood cover on a building in a high-risk zone is required by law, for at least the lowest of the loan balance, the building’s insurable value and the federal maximum.
Owners outside one
Flood maps don’t catch every flood. A building outside a high-risk zone can still flood, and the property policy usually won’t pay.
What the lender asks for
Lenders usually decide by the building’s flood zone: in a high-risk zone they require flood cover in an amount they set, with the lender named on the policy.
- High-risk flood zone
- Land the federal flood maps give at least a 1% chance of flooding in any year, in a zone whose code starts with A or V.
Repairs to bid out after a flood? Post the RFP free and compare the bids side by side. Bidding on the work instead? Contractor insurance is matched to the bid spec, and bid bonds are free in every state we serve.
How we quote it.
Light RFP’s brokerage quotes flood insurance alongside the rest of your program: you fill in the application, and our team takes it to market.
Tell us about the buildings
Each building’s flood zone, how it sits, what is below grade, and the amounts you want insured.
We take it to market
A Light RFP broker reads your application, contacts you about anything missing, and takes it to the insurers that write flood insurance for buildings like yours.
Compare the quotes
Limits, deductibles and exclusions side by side, matched to what your lender requires. Applying commits you to nothing; you choose whether to buy.
We place it
Our brokerage puts the policy you choose in force and issues the certificates your lender asks for.
Our application
3 sheets. Plan on 10 to 15 minutes for one building with no past floods.
- One building, no past floods
- about 34 answers, 32 required
- Two buildings, a lender and a past flood
- about 60 answers, 55 required
Follow-up questions appear only when an answer calls for them.
What it asks
Open a sheet for a few of its questions.
FL-01Owner
- Do you own the buildings, manage them for others, or both?
- What is the company’s name, as the owner or the manager?
FL-02Buildings
- Which flood zone is each building in, if you know it?
- What is on the lowest floor, and what equipment sits below it?
- Do you have an elevation certificate?
FL-03Cover, floods and lender
- Has any of the buildings flooded, as far as you know?
- Does a lender require flood cover, and in what amount?
Have these ready
- Each building’s flood zoneOn your lender’s flood determination or the federal flood map. Not sure is a fine answer.
- Elevation certificatesA surveyor’s record of how high each building sits against expected flood levels, if you have one.
- How each building sitsIts foundation, the number of floors, what is on the lowest floor and what equipment sits below it.
- The amounts you wantWhat each building would cost to rebuild, and the value of the contents you want covered.
- Your current flood policy, if anyThe declarations page, and the dates of any past floods.
- Your lender’s requirementsWhether the loan requires flood cover, and in what amount.
Flood questions.
Doesn’t my property policy cover flood?
Usually not. Most commercial property forms exclude flood and surface water. Some can add it by endorsement; otherwise it’s a separate policy.
Is a burst pipe a flood?
No. Water from inside the building, like a burst pipe, is usually a property claim. Flood means water rising or flowing in from outside.
Do I need it outside a flood zone?
A lender may not require it there, but the building can still flood. Look at what sits on the ground floor and below grade, and decide from that.
What affects the price?
Mostly where and how the building sits: its flood zone and elevation, how it’s built, what is below grade, the amounts you insure and the deductible you choose.
Get a flood quote.
Getting a quote is free. Light RFP earns a commission from the carrier on all policies.
Light RFP Risk Management Services LLC · NY DFS License # PC-1978982