These are important flood insurance terms you will need when dealing with everything flood insurance. This flood insurance glossary will help you when choosing insurance, filing a claim and everything in between.

  • NFIP    National Flood Insurance Program
  • Actual Cash Value (ACV)  The cost to replace an insured personal property, less the value of its physical depreciation.
  • Anchored    Making sure a dwelling or insured building is properly secured to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement.
  • Basement    Any area of a dwelling or building having its floor below ground on all sides. 
  • Community    A political entity that has the authority to adopt and enforce floodplain ordinances for the area under its jurisdiction.
  • Community Number    A 6 digit designation identifying each NFIP community.
  • Declarations Page    A summary that includes the term of the policy, the limits of coverage, the premium, and the insurer’s name.  It is part of the flood insurance policy.
  • Deductible    The fixed amount of the insured loss that must be paid before any amounts are paid for the insured loss under the flood insurance policy.
  • Described Location    The location where the insured dwelling or building or the personal property is found.  It will be shown on the Declarations Page.
  • Erosion    The collapse, undermining or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or any other body of water.  Erosion is a covered peril if it was caused by flooding.
  • F.E.M.A.    Federal Emergency Management Agency.  A part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
  • Flood    A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of 2 or more acres of normally dry land area or of 2 or more properties(at least one of which is the policyholder’s property) from:
    • Overflow of inland or tidal waters.
    • Unusual or rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.
  • Mudflow    Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or a similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in a flood as defined above.
  • Flood Plain    Any land that is prone to be inundated by floodwaters.
  • Grade Elevation    The highest or lowest finished ground level that is immediately adjacent to the walls of the insured building.
  • Lowest Adjacent Grade    The lowest pint of the ground level adjacent to a building.
  • Lowest Floor    The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including a basement).  An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure solely for the purpose of parking vehicles, or to provide access to the building or storage area other than a basement area, is not considered a building’s lowest floor provided that such an enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of requirements.
  • Manufactured (Mobile) Home    A structure built on a permanent chassis, transported to its site and placed upon a permanent foundation.  This definition does not include recreational vehicles.
  • Mixed-Use Building    A building that has both residential and non-residential uses.
  • Modular Building    A building that is transported to its site on a steel frame or special trailer because it does not have a permanent chassis like a mobile home.
  • Mudflow    River of liquid and flowing mud on the surface of normally dry land.
  • Natural Grade    The grade that has not been affected by construction, berming, landscaping or landfill.
  • New Construction    Any building built before December 1, 1974.
  • Participating Community    A community for which FEMA has authorized the sale of flood insurance.
  • Pre-FIRM Building    A building or construction in which the building was completed before December 31, 1974.
  • Post-FIRM Building    A building or construction built after December 31, 1974.
  • A Participating Community    A community for which FEMA has authorized the sale of flood insurance under the NFIP.
  • Property Moved to Safety Expense    Up to $1,000 will be paid for reasonable expenses that occurred to temporarily remove insured property from the described location to avoid flood damage.
  • Replacement Cost Value (RCV)    The cost to replace property without deduction for depreciation.
  • Waiting Period    The time between the date of application and the policy effective date.
  • Walled and Roofed    A building that has 2 or more exterior rigid walls and a fully secured roof that is affixed to a permanent site.

We hope our flood insurance glossary helps you out. If you have any questions please contact us today and we discuss flood insurance more. If you have questions about anything else we can help you with those questions as well. Call us today or feel out the form below.

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