Moon Insurance Managers, Inc. · TDI license #5595
Flood Insurance in Houston, TX
Your homeowners policy does not cover flood. Not partly, not with a bigger deductible — it is excluded, and so is every renters policy. We place flood two ways, through Neptune and the NFIP, from an office on FM 1959 in a county where most of the water has historically arrived outside the lines on the map.
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One fact, no exceptions
Your homeowners policy does not cover flood
Every standard Texas homeowners policy excludes flood: rising water, storm surge, and water coming out of the bayous and drainage. That is true on the water in Seabrook and true in a neighborhood that has never taken an inch. Wind and hail are a different peril on a different policy, and those belong to your homeowners policy and its deductible.
Renting? The landlord insures the building and nothing of yours. A renters policy covers your belongings, and a contents-only flood policy covers them against rising water — up to $100,000, bought on its own.
Harris County, 2017
Most of the homes that flooded in Harvey were outside the floodplain
The Flood Control District counted it afterwards, address by address, using city and county damage reports, appraisal district records, paid flood claims and FEMA assistance payments. The count is the argument:
Hurricane Harvey, Harris County
- Homes flooded
- 154,170
- Outside the 1% floodplain
- 105,340 — 68%
- Inside the 1% floodplain
- 48,850
- Held no flood policy
- 64% of them
Two out of three flooded homes were outside the line. Two out of three homeowners had no policy. Those are close to the same houses.
A Special Flood Hazard Area — what FEMA calls the mapped 1 percent annual chance floodplain — is where a federally regulated lender is obliged to make you carry coverage. It has never been a statement about where water goes. In Harris County the drainage gets overwhelmed by rain that never touches a bayou, and Zone X is where most of the losses have happened.
Source: HCFCD — Immediate Report, Hurricane Harvey, “House flooding estimates”. Verified .
Draft, not regulatory
What the new Harris County flood maps actually change today
Nothing. Not yet. FEMA's rewrite expands the mapped floodplain across the county and it has been reported as though it already bites; the Flood Control District's own statement is that these are “draft maps from FEMA intended for technical review by floodplain administrators” and that they are “not final, not regulatory, and not part of FEMA's formal public appeal and comment process.” Nothing changes right now for flood insurance requirements or development rules. Final determination is years away.
We would rather tell you that than sell against a deadline that does not exist. What it means practically is the opposite of panic, and better:
- Your zone today is your zone today. Check the address on FEMA's Map Service Center, which shows the maps actually in force.
- Buying now is a choice, not a requirement. Coverage arranged before a map change is coverage you picked the limits on.
- When the rewrite does take effect, a property newly mapped into a Special Flood Hazard Area gets a one-day waiting period instead of thirty — for twelve months. That is worth knowing in advance and worth nothing today.
Sources: HCFCD — statement on the FEMA maps; FEMA — Flood Map Service Center. Verified .
Two programs
NFIP and private flood, side by side
There is no counter to walk up to for either one. Both are placed through an agent, which is the part most people are surprised by, and the reason a comparison is worth having in front of you before you pick.
| Criterion | NFIP | Private flood |
|---|---|---|
| Backed by | FEMA, a federal program | A private carrier |
| Building limit | $250,000 residential | Often higher, set by the carrier |
| Contents limit | $100,000 residential | Varies by carrier |
| Waiting period | 30 days, four exceptions | Varies, sometimes shorter |
| How it is rated | Per property, under Risk Rating 2.0 | Per carrier’s own filing |
| Lender acceptance | Standard | Widely accepted — confirm with yours |
| Where you buy it | Through an agent | Through an agent |
We quote both and tell you which fits the address — Neptune and the NFIP are the routes we place. Neither of us knows which is cheaper for your house until it is rated, and any page that tells you otherwise is guessing at your elevation.
Source: FEMA — flood insurance coverage and limits. Verified .
The clock
The 30-day rule, and the four exceptions
An NFIP policy generally takes effect 30 days after you buy it. FEMA lists four exceptions and they are narrower than the internet suggests:
- Buying, increasing, extending or renewing a mortgage No wait
- The policy is in force at closing. This is why a lender can demand it and still fund on time.
- Changing coverage at renewal No wait
- Adjusting limits on a policy you already hold does not restart the clock.
- Newly mapped into a Special Flood Hazard Area One day
- Only where a map change has actually taken effect, and only within 12 months of it. Harris County’s rewrite is still a draft, so nothing here triggers this yet.
- Flooding caused or worsened by wildfire on federal land One day
- Within 60 days of the containment date. Rare here, and it is still part of the rule.
- Everything else 30 days
- Including the week a storm is in the Gulf. There is no way to buy your way out of this one once the forecast exists.
You cannot buy flood insurance once the storm has a name and a cone. A policy bought in June is what covers you in August.
Source: FEMA — when a flood policy takes effect. Verified .
Building and contents
What a flood policy pays for
Flood coverage comes in two halves and they are bought separately. Owners usually want both; tenants buy the second on its own.
- Building — the structure, foundation, electrical, plumbing, heating and air, and built-in appliances. Up to $250,000 on an NFIP policy.
- Contents — furniture, clothing, electronics. Up to $100,000, and the half a renter buys alone.
- Not paid by the NFIP — somewhere to live while you are out of the house, most property in a basement, and your car. The car is a comprehensive claim on your auto policy, not a flood claim.
The loss-of-use gap is the one that hurts people who have never claimed before. A private policy may cover it; ask us to check the wording rather than assuming either way.
No obligation
Get covered before the water
Flood policies are bought on calm days. Tell us the address and we will tell you the zone it is in today, which of the two routes is worth quoting, and the date coverage would actually start. The phone is faster: (281) 484-8320. There is a longer quote request form if your declarations page is to hand, and the callback form above takes five fields.
Flood is written statewide — you need not be local. The office is on FM 1959, minutes from the bay.
Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 5:00; Friday, 9:00 to 4:00. 360 FM 1959, Houston, TX 77034.
Flood questions we get every week
Does homeowners insurance cover flood in Houston?
No. Rising water from outside the building is excluded from every standard homeowners and renters policy, and no endorsement adds it back. Flood is always a separate policy, placed through an agent either way.
How long is the flood insurance waiting period?
An NFIP policy takes effect 30 days after purchase, with four exceptions FEMA states plainly: no wait when the policy is bought in connection with making, increasing, extending or renewing a mortgage; no wait when you change coverage at renewal; a one-day wait when your property has been newly mapped into a Special Flood Hazard Area and you buy within 12 months; and a one-day wait for flooding caused or worsened by wildfire on federal land, bought within 60 days of containment. Private carriers set their own, sometimes shorter.
I am not in a Special Flood Hazard Area. Do I need flood insurance?
Nobody will require it of you. In Harvey, 68 percent of the 154,170 Harris County homes that flooded were outside the mapped 1 percent floodplain, and 64 percent of all the homes that flooded had no flood policy in force. The map line decides who is required to buy, not where the water goes.
What do the new Harris County flood maps mean for me?
Nothing yet. The Flood Control District says the maps released so far are drafts for technical review — not final, not regulatory, and not part of FEMA’s formal appeal process — and that nothing changes right now for flood insurance requirements. Final determination is years out. That is exactly the window in which coverage is cheapest to arrange, because you are choosing it rather than being required to hold it.
Can renters get flood insurance?
Yes. A contents-only NFIP policy covers a tenant’s belongings up to $100,000, and the landlord’s policy covers none of it. Pair it with a renters policy, which covers everything except flood.