Tips: Setting Homeowner Expectations About the NFIP
Flood Damage AssessmentsAfter a flood, ensuring staff and homeowners understand the requirements and procedures of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) often presents unexpected challenges for localities. Staff and homeowners must have a clear understanding of the detailed rules and processes of the NFIP — especially the concept of substantial damage — to accurately assess damage and know what actions will be required as a result.
Have a policy in place before a disaster to define how market value is determined.
- Home market values become critical when FEMA makes substantial damage determinations. Communities that define and document how market value is determined in advance will save themselves and their residents from additional hassle during this process.
Educate homeowners on the basics.
- If your locality is prone to flooding, make sure home and business owners are aware that homeowners insurance does not typically cover flood damage.
- Make sure homeowners know the first step in the damage assessment process is reporting damage to their NFIP agent. They also need to report damage to local emergency management, and should be encouraged to provide as much information as possible about damage to their homes and neighborhoods.
- Encourage residents to immediately file for FEMA disaster assistance as it may cover expenses of temporary housing assistance and other costs affiliated with not being able to live in your home that insurance may not cover.
- Remind homeowners to keep their insurance policies and information in a safe, well-identified place. Many residents either can’t find their insurance policies or they get destroyed in the flood. Homeowners should also keep their flood insurance agent’s contact information on hand.
- Have your state’s floodplain manager contact information on hand, and build a relationship with them prior to a disaster if possible. They can help you understand the process before you communicate with homeowners.
Ensure Homeowners Understand the Concept of Substantially Damaged
- Make sure the definitions and application of substantial damage and substantial improvement are well-understood and explained to property owners; homeowners in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) must be aware that they may need to raise or demolish their homes. Communicate this to residents when going door-to-door to conduct damage assessments.
- Staff should not give details to the community on NFIP until they are certain they understand the requirements and process.
- Make sure homeowners don’t mix elective remodeling construction with flood-related repairs. If remodeling expenditures are mixed with flood damage repairs, the dollar amount will count toward the substantial damage determination of less or more than 50 percent value.
- Hold a town hall meeting or other public forum to disseminate information about substantial damage. Homeowners’ biggest concerns will be if they have to raise their homes, and if they will have to rebuild. Be prepared at the public forum with simple explanations of what homes do not need to be elevated or demolished, and provide further assistance to homeowners who may be required to elevate or relocate.
Remind homeowners to document any and all flood damage.
Homeowners will need to provide documentation of any and all damage and out-of-pocket expenses to their NFIP agent. Provide homeowners with the following list of advice to help ensure they have the documentation they need:
- Keep all receipts of items or services purchased in an organized file — from buying a tarp or wet vacuum to renting a temporary place to stay.
- Before removing any water, take photographs and videos of the flood water inside your home at its highest level.
- Photograph and video all internal and external structural damage before any repairs begin — even if you don’t see damage, take photographs.
- Take photos and videos from far away — show the entire wall, room or side of the house — and then move closer for specific damage.
- Don’t forget storage sheds, garages and basements or crawl spaces.
- Use rulers and tape measures to show the height and depth of damage.
- Take a photo of any items before they are thrown away.
- After the contents are removed from your home, photograph all electrical sockets, baseboard, floors and ceilings.
- Photograph and video the damaged contents of your home. Photograph the inside of every closet, major appliances and furniture, and don’t forget areas like kitchen and bathroom drawers and cabinets, contents inside of your garage and even DVDs and books.
- Back the images and videos up on the Cloud, download them to a computer and print hard copies as soon as possible. You can also take a video of each room while describing the damage as another useful form of documentation.