With Hurricane Beryl Making Landfall, Here’s What Insurance Agents Should Do Next

With Hurricane Beryl having made landfall in Texas over the weekend, the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is now in full swing. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) – we are in what is expected to be an exceptionally active season, both in terms of frequency and ferocity.

Source: USA Today

For those in the storm’s path, it’s too late to secure flood insurance prior to the storm’s arrival. That’s because flood insurance policies have a 30-day waiting period before taking effect. 

Ironically, however, now is the best time to secure coverage because the NWS is still predicting:

• 23 named storms
• 11 hurricanes
• 5 reaching major hurricane status (Category 3, 4, or 5)

But for insurance agents and brokers bent on providing the best, and most comprehensive coverage, to their clients, reacting to storm predictions is hardly a good strategy. Consider the following: even before Hurricane Beryl formed, parts of Florida recently experienced a “wall of water” that dropped up to 12 inches of rain in parts of the Sunshine State. It turns out that hurricane-levels of precipitation are still possible outside of named storms.

Getting straight to the point: catastrophic flood damage is a 24/7, 365-days a year risk for agents, brokers, and their insureds. Now is the best time to secure sufficient flood insurance coverage, not because of storms that can be expected next month but because the risk of significant damage is always present, regardless of the time of year. 

What Agents and their Insureds Must Understand About Flood Coverage

Here are three facts that insurance agents and brokers need to consider when helping their insureds navigate coverage options:

1. NFIP Coverage is Minimal: For commercial properties, the NFIP only provides coverage up to $500,000, a figure that was last increased in 2012. Given the cost of rebuilding today compared to 12 years ago, most property owners would find the NFIP’s limit to be entirely inadequate. 
2. The NFIP Doesn’t Offer Business Interruption Coverage: And, in the event of major flooding, the interruption of business is what causes the most “damage” to commercial properties and business owners.
3. The NFIP Has Additional Exclusions: The NFIP also doesn’t offer coverage for Improvements, Betterments, and Excess Limits. 

The Private Flood Insurance Market Closes (All of) These Gaps 

And AFR Services can help.

Since 1992, we’ve worked with agents and brokers to help them find superior coverage (at competitive prices) because we have relationships with a wide network of underwriters in the private insurance market. To date, we’ve underwritten more than 15,000 policies, including complex risks, such as multi-structure portfolios across different states, all on a single policy. We know the ins and outs of commercial flood insurance.

Let AFR Insurance Services quote your next commercial property for flood insurance. Discover how we can offer superior coverage for your clients at competitive prices.

Just click the button below, and if you don’t have a commercial property that needs a quote immediately, bookmark the link and come back when you do.