New Flood Insurance Product For Florida Homeowners Available from American Integrity

American Integrity Insurance Group (AI), a Florida-based insurance provider, has unveiled a private flood insurance option for homeowners.

AI is one of nine Florida-based insurers to offer its own flood program that includes a Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FOIR) certification, which ensures the AI coverage is at least as broad as the NFIP program’s coverage, according to OIR.* 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.

Pringle added that American Integrity closely studied the NFIP product while developing the program and identified how it could address some of the challenges in that program — including its risk selection and rating constraints.

AI’s flood endorsement is designed for use with the company’s non-coastal home, condo, vacant, and rental properties, for the following products: HO-3 (single-family homes), HO-6 (condos) and DP-1 and DP-3 (dwelling fire policies).

Some key differences between AI’s flood endorsement policy and an NFIP policy include:

• American Integrity’s endorsement offers one deductible for both structure and contents, while the NFIP policy has two separate deductibles for structure and contents.
• Unlike the NFIP, AI requires no waiting period for flood endorsement customers.
• AI rates are available up to 15 percent lower than NFIP policy rates, by underwriting and selecting the risks it wants to insure (for instance, it won’t take properties with prior flood losses). NFIP, by comparison, has a “take all comers approach,” and must write repeated losses and it must write risks where the rates have been suppressed (grandfathered rates).
• Additional Living Expense (ALE) of up to $5,000 is included in AI’s plan. If a home is unlivable due to a covered loss, AI’s ALE covers expenses incurred by homeowners to reside elsewhere while their home is being repaired. NFIP policies do not offer this coverage.

In addition, AI’s flood endorsement, the company launched golf cart coverage and umbrella products in 2017. American Integrity’s golf cart standalone insurance provides liability limits up to $500,000. The umbrella policy provides additional liability coverage over and above the customer’s underlying home, auto or watercraft policy limits.

American Integrity Insurance’s product suite also includes specialized coverage for homeowners, condominium unit owners, manufactured home owners, rental property owners, vacant property owners, as well as other specialized insurance coverages.

The company is based in Tampa, Fla.

*Correction: This story was corrected from an earlier version that inaccurately stated how many private flood insurers in Florida have been FOIR certified.

Related:

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• Florida Lawmakers to Industry: We Want YOU to Join State Flood Insurance Market