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Wildfire, Hurricane and Flood Coverage terms
Wildfire, Hurricane and Flood Coverage in Homeowners Insurance: the news, the names and what changed.
Base flood elevation (BFE)The height, in feet above a standard reference level, that floodwater is expected to reach in a flood with a 1% chance of occurring in any year.Catastrophic ground cover collapseA Florida-defined event in which the ground abruptly collapses, a visible depression forms, the building is structurally damaged and authorities condemn it.Defensible spaceThe managed buffer of trimmed, thinned and cleared vegetation around a house that slows a wildfire and gives firefighters room to defend the structure.Earth movementA group of ground-shifting events, including earthquake, landslide, mudflow, subsidence and sinkhole, that homeowners policies exclude from coverage.Earthquake deductibleThe share of the insured value you pay before earthquake coverage responds, expressed as a percentage that is far higher than a regular home deductible.Earthquake insuranceSeparate coverage, or an add-on endorsement, for damage from ground shaking, which standard homeowners policies exclude as earth movement.Elevation certificateA form completed by a licensed surveyor, engineer or architect that records a building's key elevations against the mapped base flood elevation.Excess flood insuranceExtra flood coverage that sits above a primary flood policy, usually the NFIP maximum, to pay for losses beyond the first policy's limits.Flood exclusionThe standard homeowners provision that excludes flood, surface water, tides and overflowing water bodies, leaving flood damage to a separate flood policy.Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)FEMA's official map of a community showing flood zones, base flood elevations and floodways, which lenders use to decide whether flood insurance is required.Flood zoneA map designation, such as Zone AE, VE or X, that classifies a property's flood risk and helps decide whether a lender will require flood insurance.FORTIFIED HomeA voluntary construction standard from the insurer-funded IBHS that strengthens a house against wind, hail and storm damage, with certified designations.Hail damageDents, bruises, cracks and punctures that falling ice causes to roofs, siding, windows and outdoor equipment, covered under the windstorm or hail peril.Hurricane deductibleA separate amount you pay first, usually a percentage of the dwelling limit, that applies to wind damage from a hurricane in place of your regular flat amount.Ice damA ridge of ice at a roof's edge that traps melting snow and forces water under the shingles and into the house, a common winter source of ceiling damage.Increased cost of compliance (ICC)Flood policy coverage of up to $30,000, apart from the damage claim, toward elevating, relocating or demolishing a substantially damaged building.Named storm deductibleA separate amount you pay first, often a percentage of the dwelling limit, when damage comes from any storm the National Hurricane Center has named.National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)The federal program, run by FEMA since 1968, that makes flood insurance available to owners and renters in communities that adopt floodplain management rules.Private flood insuranceFlood coverage issued on an insurer's own form and rates instead of through the federal program, which a lender may accept in place of an NFIP policy.Risk Rating 2.0FEMA's current method of pricing NFIP flood policies by each home's own flood risk and rebuilding cost rather than mainly by flood zone and elevation.Sinkhole lossStructural damage to a building, including its foundation, caused by ground settling into underground voids, excluded unless the policy adds sinkhole coverage.Special flood hazard area (SFHA)The land FEMA maps as having at least a 1% chance of flooding in any year, where lenders must require flood insurance on federally backed mortgages.Storm surgeThe abnormal rise of seawater that a hurricane or strong storm pushes onshore above the normal tide, treated as flood and excluded from homeowners policies.Surface waterRain or melted snow that spreads across the ground without a defined channel, treated as flood damage and excluded from homeowners policies.Wildfire risk scoreA number a modeling vendor assigns to a property to estimate its exposure to wildfire, which insurers use to accept, price or decline coverage.Wind exclusionA provision or endorsement that removes wind and hail from a homeowners policy, so the home needs separate wind coverage from a wind pool or another insurer.Wind/hail deductibleA separate amount you pay first, flat or a percentage of the dwelling limit, on damage from wind or hail in place of the standard flat amount.WindstormThe peril of damage from high winds, including hurricanes, tornadoes and thunderstorm gusts, which most policies cover, sometimes with a separate deductible.Write Your Own (WYO) insurerA private insurance company that sells and services federal flood policies under its own name while the federal government carries the flood losses.