Flood Insurance
What Are My Coverage Options?

If you are eligible for a National Flood Insurance Policy, coverage is available for your building and personal property. The cost of Flood Insurance coverage depends on your flood zone risk area.

The coverages available under a standard National Flood Insurance Policy include Building Coverage, Contents Coverage and Replacement Cost Coverage.

Building Coverage protects the structure of your home or business. It includes above-ground appliances and other items of property that are considered to be part of the building:

• Central air conditioners, refrigerators, walk-in freezers
• Built-in dishwashers, built-in microwaves, ranges, cooking stoves and ovens
• Hot water heaters, furnaces and radiators, garbage disposal units
• Awnings, blinds and canopies
• Carpet permanently installed over unfinished flooring
• Permanently installed cupboards, bookcases, cabinets, paneling and wallpaper
• Elevator equipment, fire sprinkler systems, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures
• Outdoor antennas and aerials fastened to buildings

In a basement,* which is defined as any room where the floor is below ground on all sides, coverage is limited to the following:

• Furnaces, hot water heaters, water softeners, central air conditioners, heat pumps
• Utility connections, sump pumps, fuel and water tanks
• Supports and anchors required to hold up building, fiberglass insulation, dry wall or sheet rock walls, unfinished, unfloated and not taped
• Electrical wiring and circuit breaker boxes
• Clean-up after a flood

• Residential homes can be insured up to a maximum of $250,000 under Building Coverage.
• Non-residential buildings can be insured up to a maximum of $500,000 under Building Coverage.
• Replacement Cost Coverage applies to single-family dwellings and residential condominium building associations. To qualify, the building must be your principal residence, it must be owner occupied, and it must be insured at the time of the loss for at least 80 percent of the building’s replacement cost or the maximum coverage available, whichever is less. Condominium unit owners need to purchase Contents Coverage to cover personal property.

Just an inch of water can cause costly damage to your property. Flash flooding usually causes more damage to a building's contents than damage to the building itself.

You'll want to think about coverage for your personal property items as well as the structure of your building. Your personal belongings help make your house, apartment, condominium, mobile home, or co-op unit a home. You don't want to risk losing them in the event of a flood.

For some policies, contents coverage is not included.  Talk to your local Allstate agent to make sure you have the coverage you need. 

• Clothing and furniture
• Portable or window-type air conditioning units
• Portable microwaves and portable dishwashers
• Carpets over finished flooring located above ground
• Carpets, not permanently installed, over unfinished flooring
• “Cook-out” grills
• Food freezers (other than walk-ins which are covered under Building Coverage)
• Clothes washers and dryers

Clothes washers, dryers and food freezers are only covered by Contents Coverage, whether they are located above ground, or below ground in a basement.*

• Up to $100,000 for contents with a Standard Flood Insurance Policy
• Up to $100,000 for contents with a Preferred Risk Policy

Personal property contents are covered on an actual cash value basis. Replacement cost coverage is not available for contents. Please see your local Allstate agent for details.

The base insurance plan also includes up to $1,000 for reasonable expenses, such as sandbagging, incurred to protect your property from the imminent danger of a flood.

A Preferred Risk Flood Policy is designed for homeowners and tenants of eligible buildings in low to moderate flood hazard areas who want to help protect their home and contents in the event of a flood. In order to qualify for a Preferred Risk Flood Policy, you need to own a one-to-four family dwelling or non-residential property in a low to moderate flood hazard area that meets certain requirements.

If your dwelling’s flood loss history falls into any of the categories below, a Preferred Risk Policy cannot be written. These requirements apply since the date of construction and regardless of your dwelling’s prior ownership:

• Two loss payments, each more than $1,000
• Three or more loss payments, regardless of the amount
• Two Federal Disaster Relief payments, each more than $1,000
• Three Federal Disaster Relief payments, regardless of the amount
• One flood insurance claim payment and one flood disaster relief payment (including loans and grants), each more than $1,000

For homes located in low to moderate flood hazard areas, a Preferred Risk Policy provides the same coverage as a standard Flood Insurance policy:

• Your building's structural elements can be insured up to $250,000 residential, $500,000 non-residential
• Your contents can be insured up to $100,000 residential, $500,000 non-residential
• Replacement cost coverage is also available for a single-family, primary residence.
• To qualify, your dwelling must be your principal residence, it must be owner occupied, and it must be insured at the time of the loss for at least 80 percent of the building’s replacement cost or the maximum coverage available, whichever is less.

In some states, if you purchase National Flood Insurance through Allstate and find you need more coverage than the maximum limit provided by the NFIP program, you may be eligible to purchase additional coverage through an Excess Flood Insurance Policy** from your Allstate agent.

Your Local Allstate agent can give you flood Insurance Information.

If your community qualifies for Flood Insurance protection under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) guidelines, your local Allstate agent can provide you with information about your community's NFIP status and the coverage necessary to help protect your property.