American Integrity Launches Private, Certified Flood Insurance Endorsement for Homeowners

Real Estate Weekly News

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Real Estate Weekly News -- American Integrity Insurance Group (AI), a premier Florida-based insurance provider, now offers flood insurance for homeowners that provides broader coverage than the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policy, at a lower cost. With the announcement of the new flood insurance endorsement, AI becomes one of less than a handful of Florida-based insurers to offer its own flood program - one of only two that includes a Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FOIR) certification.

FOIR certification ensures the AI coverage is at least as broad as the NFIP program's coverage. Many mortgage companies will not accept private flood coverage without this certification, according to Danny Pringle, American Integrity Insurance Group's Assistant Vice President of Product Development.

Flooding is the most common natural disaster in the U.S. and has the potential to cause an extreme amount of damage in the Sunshine State, where residents are never more than 60 miles from the coast. AIIG launched its flood insurance endorsement to protect Floridians and their homes from this ever-present threat.

Many Floridians mistakenly believe their standard homeowner's policy includes flood coverage, a costly error that they do not become aware of until after a flood event occurs. According to FEMA, the average paid flood loss for Hurricane Matthew, which raked its way along Florida's east coast in October 2016, was a whopping $36,475. Homeowners who did not have a flood policy had to fully incur those costs themselves. Most FEMA assistance comes in the form of a loan that must be repaid to the government.

"American Integrity closely studied the NFIP product while developing our program," Pringle says. "By identifying some of the challenges in that program - including its risk selection and rating constraints - we were able to create an actuarially sound product that provides broader coverage and costs less than the NFIP policy."