A typical Mississippi homeowners’ policy is written through Farmers, State Farm, Allstate, and Progressive, for instance, excludes flooding as something that will be covered under their homeowner’s policy.
In most cases, the only way to get flood coverage is by purchasing a stand-alone flood insurance policy. However, you should ask your homeowners agent if you can add an endorsement to your homeowner’s policy to cover flooding. Yet, don’t be too surprised if the answer is NO.
The Mississippi River plays a significant role in flooding events across the state. With its vast network of tributaries and the potential for heavy rainfall, the Mississippi River can swell rapidly, leading to widespread flooding in surrounding areas. Historic floods along the Mississippi River have caused billions of dollars in damage and displaced thousands of residents over the years. Proper flood insurance coverage is crucial for homeowners and businesses located near the river and its tributaries.
The average cost for Mississippi flood insurance in these Low-risk areas is $595 per year.
FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and all federally backed lenders rely on these Mississippi flood insurance maps to assess risk, set premiums, and determine who is required to purchase flood insurance. Bad information about an area’s flood risk can leave property owners under or uninsured.
The average cost for flood insurance in Mississippi with the maximum set limits in these Low-risk flood zone areas is $405 – $700 per year.
Your property is in a higher-risk flood zone, usually identified with a Flood Zone AE. Your lender will require you to have flood insurance. The cost of flood insurance in Mississippi depends on many factors unique to the structure. We will try to give you an idea of the most common homes we see in Mississippi with a slab-on-grade foundation.
We will look at the Mississippi cost of flood insurance for the NFIP maximum of $250,000 for the (building only) with NO CONTENTS and our recommended deductible of $5,000.
We will be rating this example on the NFIP and on a few of our private flood insurance policies, specifically Lloyds flood insurance options in Mississippi.
Cost of Flood Insurance in MISSISSIPPI in high-risk flood zone AE
Our example is in Jackson, but the premiums will be the same in Gulfport, Hancock, Biloxi, Pascagoula, and many other Mississippi flood ones.
In our example, the Base Flood Elevation (BFE is 274) and is a home that is built before 1973
NFIP option in Mississippi Flood Zone AE
NFIP – Coverage of $250,000 building coverage (no Contents coverage) and $5,000 deductible
NFIP Annual premium in High-Risk flood zone is $3,452.00
This option is what we see if the property has had a flood loss before and either doesn’t have an Elevation Certificate applied or the Elevation certificate showing that the lowest floor is 4 feet under the BFE for the area. You can use 10% of your coverage to cover other structures on your property
Mississippi Private flood insurance – Lloyds of London Flood Insurance (option 1)
Coverage of $250,000 building coverage (no Contents coverage) and $5,000 deductible
Lloyd’s of London (option 1) Annual premium in High-Risk flood zone is $1,029.13
This option is great, and we are very happy when we can get this option for our clients. They seem to be writing almost all risks; however, they do not write any property in a designated floodway or has a depth of -4 under the BFE. In our example, with our BFE being 274, they will not accept this risk if the lowest floor is 270. They will not take anything that has had a flood loss. They offer limited coverage for basements and do not require an Elevation Certificate to rate and as a percentage of coverage for loss of use. If you want coverage for other structures, that will need to be added.
Private Flood insurance option (option 2) Not Lloyd’s
Coverage of $250,000 building coverage (no Contents coverage) and $5,000 deductible
The annual premium in High-Risk flood zone is $2,376.00
This option will take properties that have had one flood loss for more than five years, and the payout was under $100,000 on the claim. Their coverage matches the NFIP. They will write practically all risks, don’t need an elevation certificate to rate, and are a bit lower in premium than the NFIP.
Private Flood Insurance – Lloyd’s of London (option 3)
This option must be written on the building’s Replacement Cost Value (RCV). Otherwise, there is a co-insurance penalty that kicks in. So, $250,000 might be a bit low in California, but to keep this going, let’s just use that for this option
Coverage of $250,000 (RCV) building coverage, No Contents, and $5,000 deductible
The annual premium in High-Risk flood zone is $819.20 (a great price).
This options rating system is all over the board. Sometimes we get a crazy great price, but other times the premium is way higher than the NFIP will consider taking a property that has had one flood loss before as long as it has been more than ten years and the payout was under $50,000 on the claim. Their preferred coverage is at replacement cost, which is slightly different from some of our other Lloyd’s flood options. We usually reserve this one if the property doesn’t fit the above options. We can adjust coverages to control premiums. As mentioned before, these underwriters’ rates are all over the board. It is worth shopping through to ensure we are getting you the best premium possible. They don’t need an elevation certificate to rate.
Private Flood Insurance – Lloyd’s of London (option 4)
Coverage of $250,000 (RCV) building coverage, No Contents, and $5,000 deductible.
The annual premium in High-Risk flood zone is $1,140.86
This option came from the company that used to run the NFIP program, so the coverage matches the NFIP coverage with two differences. They offer living expenses covering your cost when you are displaced from your home during repairs (most Lloyds flood policies offer this). They also offer swimming pool clean-out, which is kind of unique so if you have a pool, ask for this coverage.
Private Flood Insurance – Lloyd’s of London (option 5)
Coverage of $250,000 (RCV) building coverage. No Contents and $5,000 deductible.
The annual premium in High-Risk flood zone is $790.00
This options rating system is also all over the board. Sometimes we get a crazy low price; other times, the premium is way higher than the NFIP. They will consider taking a property that has had one flood loss before as long as it has been more than ten years and the payout was under $25,000 on the claim. They have been rumored to give a low price the first year and then non-renew following years, or sometimes they jack the price way up, so we will watch them. They have a slick system, and their underwriting is managed by a 3rd party, which also sometimes seems to be a glitch.
More options are coming online every day, and we are working to be looking into every viable option.