The number of decisions we make in a day is bewildering. What to wear, what to each, who to focus our attention on, and what. And we solve countless problems every day at work and at home.
Naturally, we intend to keep up on our goals, relationships, bills, investments, and insurances. Although we don’t often think about insurance until we need it. I am prone to this, too, even though my job is to sell flood insurance to you. But seriously, if it isn’t “urgent,” it often doesn’t get my attention.
However, the cure to being overwhelmed is a little pre-planning when it comes to insuring your mobile home from flooding.
Unfortunately (and this goes for all insurance), you can’t get a policy when you see doom on the horizon because, well, the underwriters see it too and shut down new policies or put a waiting period before a policy becomes active.
Can you get flood insurance on a mobile home to answer your question?
The answer is generally yes, typically with the NFIP (most private market policies don’t want to insure mobile homes).
There is a difference between a mobile home and a modular home regarding flood insurance coverage.
This would be a good time to figure out the difference between modular and mobile homes.
Although some private underwriters won’t insure either mobile or modular, most of our options do offer flood coverage for a modular home.
A modular home is a structure built in a warehouse or offsite location, then put on a flatbed trailer and assembled at its permanent location. The fully constructed modular home usually has all the inner workings of carpet, tile, cabinets, plumbing, and writing. It needs to be placed, fastened to the foundation, and attached to the sewer, water, and power. In all, it is just a home built offsite and placed in its permanent place when completed. This type of construction allows the building to go on year round and not be limited by weather conditions. Once set, they typically are not moved.
A mobile home is a structure built on a trailer chassis, and this structure of the chassie is not removed when the home is towed to its location. To get flood insurance for a mobile home, you must remove the wheels from the chassie and be attached to a foundation (typically a slab or pilings) so that in the event of flooding, the home won’t simply float away.
Isn’t my home covered by the standard mobile home insurance?
It is usually a separate flood insurance policy to ensure any home with flood coverage because standard mobile home insurance excludes flooding as something it will cover.
Why is my lender requiring me to get flood insurance for my mobile home?
Your lender will require coverage due to federal law if the structure is in or placed on a high-risk flood zone map.
What is the average cost of flood insurance for a mobile home?
The Flood Nerds™ only works in flood insurance and has thousands of policies nationwide, many of which are flood insurance for mobile homes.
We recently studied the average private flood insurance policy and found that most of our clients are paying anywhere between $450 – $1,500 for their flood insurance. The best thing about working with a Flood Nerd is that we shop many options to ensure you get a great policy and a great price.
Who can get flood insurance for a mobile home?
If your mobile home is located on one of FEMA’s high-risk flood maps and you have a mortgage, you must purchase flood insurance. Otherwise, your lender will buy the policy on your behalf, which is usually very expensive, so it is smarter to get your own. If your home is paid off, it is recommended that you still have coverage, but it isn’t a requirement. This also goes for areas that are not in a high-risk flood zone.
Twenty-five percent of all claims come in flood zones that don’t require flood insurance. Sadly many of these people don’t have flood coverage and didn’t even know they were at risk. Anywhere it rains, it can flood, so you are at risk of flooding any given day. Don’t put yourself in a position where you wish you had it and didn’t and now have ruined your financial future or, worse yet, lost your home due to flooding.
What type of mobile homes is eligible for flood insurance?
The home must be built on a permanent frame and that frame attached to a permanent foundation. Flood insurance for a mobile home can only be offered if the wheels have been removed and it is attached to something that will keep it from floating away.
What type of flood insurance coverage do I get on a mobile home?
Finally, there are two different coverage options for the NFIP mobile home flood insurance policy, building or dwelling coverage which is the actual structure and contents, or personal belongings coverage. This is all the stuff you put into a moving van to relocate when you move. It can include clothing, couches, televisions, rugs, anything you basically would pick up and put in a box or moving van to relocate when you move. Some private flood insurance policies for mobile homes offer a loss of use or additional living expenses if this home is your primary residence. This coverage will kick in when your home has been damaged by flooding. And you cannot live in your home for a while as you wait for the flooding to subside. Or your home needs to be cleaned before moving back in.
So it will cover the expenses for up to two weeks, typically for a hotel stay and eating out. You will need to keep receipts of all and turn in a form sometimes; however, most private flood policies will just give you the loss of use in the dire time you have an actual flood.
