If you let your flood insurance lapse and then got hit by Helene, you may be able to renew it

WASHINGTON (AP) — Residents in the states hit by Hurricane Helene who had coverage through the federal flood insurance program but let it lapse before the storm hit may be able to renew it and still be covered from the impact.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said late Thursday that certain policyholders in seven states affected by Hurricane Helene whose insurance lapsed now have extra time to renew their coverage.

Usually people who have policies through the FEMA-run National Flood Insurance Program get a 30-day grace period after their policies expire when they can renew and still be covered for anything that happens in the grace period. The agency is extending that until Nov. 26.

For example, if someone's policy ended on Aug. 28, they normally would have had until Sept. 26 to renew it without risking a lapse in coverage. But now they have until Nov. 26 to renew.

The agency recommends that policyholders contact their insurance company to see if this applies to them.

“By extending the grace period for renewing policies, we are giving our policyholders some breathing room and demonstrating that the National Flood Insurance Program stands with them at time of tremendous heartache and difficulty," said Jeff Jackson, the interim senior executive of the program.

The Category 4 hurricane struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sept. 26 before moving north, where it dumped trillions of gallons of water across several states.

Most private insurance companies don’t carry flood insurance, and flood damage is usually not covered by homeowner's insurance policies. The National Flood Insurance Program is the primary provider of flood insurance coverage for residential homes.

Congress created the program more than 50 years ago when many private insurers stopped offering policies in high-risk areas.

But the bumped-up grace period only helps if people have flood insurance in the first place. Experts estimate that only about 1% of homeowners in the inland areas that sustained the most catastrophic flood damage had flood insurance.