The National Flood Insurance Program is a federally  sponsored program which provides a maximum building coverage limit of $250,000 on single family dwellings, two to four family dwellings, and condo units. The maximum coverage limit on contents is $100,000. Coverage can be purchased through insurance agents such as William Pitt Insurance Services. Additional (non NFIP) “private market” flood policy options may be available for properties in A and V zones. Our agents can also provide excess Dwelling and Contents coverage through other Insurance companies if the NFIP limits are not sufficient for your specific needs.

If you are buying or selling a home you should be aware of the following:

• Homes built prior to the date your town entered the National Flood Insurance Program do not require an elevation certificate, although in a limited number of cases it may reduce your premium. This is known as pre-firm (flood insurance rate map) construction. A list of dates when towns entered the NFIP are available online with NFIP at www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program/national-flood-insurance-program-community-status-book , or upon request with us. The date your town entered the NFIP is referred to as the “firm date,” most towns entered the program in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s.

• All homes built or substantially renovated after the town entered the National Flood Insurance Program will need an elevation certificate to obtain a FEMA National Flood Insurance Program policy regardless of the closing date. Elevation certificates are never required to obtain a private market policy (non FEMA policy). These newer construction homes typically have positive elevation and pay a lower flood insurance premium.

• Buyers of secondary residences (homes not occupied at least 51% of the first 365 days following closing) will pay a higher premium than primary residences. One of six types of evidence of primary residence documentation will be required of all policy holders.

• As of April 1, 2023, FEMA has fully implemented the National Flood Insurance Program’s pricing methodology called “Risk Rating 2.0” which enabled FEMA to implement rates that better reflect a properties flood risk.

  *For a comprehensive view of the FEMA Flood Map visit: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home

Once you obtain a flood zone determination, you can click on the following link to obtain a definition of the flood zone: https://gis.dhs.in.gov/Common_2x/docs/DFIRMkey.pdf