Does Florida homeowners insurance cover water damage?

One: sudden and accidental, not slow and known about

Home policies are generally written around damage that happens suddenly and by accident. A supply line that bursts, a water heater that fails, a washing machine hose that lets go: that shape of event is what the cover is for. A joint that has been weeping behind a cabinet for two years, or a roof that has been letting water in since the last storm, tends to be treated as maintenance rather than a covered loss.

The Texas insurance regulator puts the general principle plainly for consumers: "Most homeowner and renters policies cover sudden and accidental water damage", with examples including a burst pipe, toilet overflow or broken washer hose, and "policies usually won't cover damage from gradual leaks" (tdi.texas.gov). Policy wording differs between insurers and states, so read your own policy: that is the document that decides your claim, not any website.

Two: flood is a different policy entirely

This is the most valuable and least understood fact in the whole subject. The National Flood Insurance Program states it directly: "Most homeowners and renters insurance does not cover flood damage", and NFIP policies exist "because most homeowners, renters and business insurance does not cover flood damage" (floodsmart.gov). A flood, in the program's words, is "an excess of water on land that is normally dry".

• Limits. NFIP homeowner building coverage runs up to $250,000, and contents coverage up to $100,000 for belongings kept inside the home.
• What NFIP does not pay. The program lists property outside the insured building such as landscaping, septic systems, decks and patios, fences and swimming pools; temporary housing and additional living expenses during repair; and business interruption. That living expenses exclusion surprises people who assume flood cover works like their homeowners policy.
• The waiting period. "Your flood insurance coverage will go into effect 30 days after your date of purchase," with four exceptions listed on the same page, including no wait when buying alongside a mortgage and a one day wait in some newly mapped high risk zones.
• Storm water is not automatically flood. Rain blown through a roof opened by wind is usually a wind claim on your homeowners policy; water that rose off the ground and came in at the door is usually a flood claim. Which one it was decides which policy responds.

Three: the hurricane deductible is not the usual deductible

Florida property policies commonly carry a separate deductible for hurricane losses. The statute requires insurers to offer deductibles "equal to $500, 2 percent, 5 percent, and 10 percent of the policy dwelling limits", and any policy containing one must state on its face, in bold type, that it "contains a separate deductible for hurricane losses, which may result in high out-of-pocket expenses to you" (s. 627.701, F.S.).

Read your declarations page and work out the dollar figure. On a $400,000 dwelling limit, a 5 percent hurricane deductible is $20,000. That number changes whether a claim is worth making at all, and it is far better known before a storm than after one.

Four: Florida has a hard deadline for notice

Section 627.70132, Florida Statutes provides that a claim or reopened claim under a property insurance policy "for loss or damage caused by any peril is barred unless notice of the claim was given to the insurer in accordance with the terms of the policy within 1 year after the date of loss", and that "a supplemental claim is barred unless notice of the supplemental claim was given to the insurer in accordance with the terms of the policy within 18 months after the date of loss" (flsenate.gov).

For weather events the statute sets the date of loss as the date the hurricane made landfall, or the date the tornado, windstorm, severe rain or other weather event is verified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Notice is not the same as a finished claim: report first, work out the detail after.

What to do, in order

1. Stop the water if you can do it safely, and make the property safe. Electricity and standing water do not mix.
2. Photograph and video everything before anything is moved or torn out. This is the cheapest thing you will ever do for a claim.
3. Report it to your insurer. Ask them, in that first call, whether the loss is being handled under your homeowners policy or whether it looks like a flood claim.
4. Do what you can to prevent further damage, and keep the receipts. Do not start permanent repairs before the insurer has seen it.
5. Read your own policy and declarations page. Look for the water damage wording, the mold sublimit if there is one, and the deductibles that apply.

We are not insurance advisers, adjusters or attorneys, and nothing here is insurance or legal advice. Your policy and declarations page decide your claim. If you disagree with an insurer's decision, the Florida Department of Financial Services runs a consumer helpline for policyholders.