Flood Insurance In Miami Beach (apartment, HOA, condo)

[sam2116]

Does home owner/ Condo Master insurance has to have Flood insurance in Miami beach City? How about condo owner, do they have to something extra for flood, wind, hurricane damage on the top of Master Insurance.

Insurance companies are very creative, what does Hurricane insurance covers? Flood, rain, wind damage?

In most part of the country, people have flood insurance providing they live in flood zone. Just browsing this forum I came across term Hurricane insurance. I am assuming Flood insurance is same as Hurricane in Florida?

Does Hurricane insurance covers Tsunami? Technically tsunami is a under water earthquake.

[AnnRyan]

Okay, so generally one has property insurance, and if you need it flood insurance. The property insurance will cover most damage (including wind/hurricane). However, flood is only covered by flood insurane.

Since Tsunami would mostly be a flooding issue, it would only be covered by flood insurance. However, in good news, we're considered at low risk for Tsunami. Tsunami in South Florida? You can't rule it out - Sun Sentinel

On the other hand, Miami is at risk for hurricanes, even though its been a while since we were hit.

[Marc Middleton]

Flood insurance covers any water intrusion. So if your neighbor's tub/water heater leaks into your apartment, your insurance won't cover it unless you have a separate flood policy.

Hurricane insurance is actually 'wind/storm' policy. If your home floods because of a hurricane, it would depend on your actual carrier and what's covered in your policy.
Did the wind blow open a window and rain came thru? Or were you in a flood zone and the area just flooded and water came up to the door?

Your HOA building insurance doesn't cover anything inside your unit so yes, you need a separate HO-6 policy when buying a condo.

[logybogy]

Typically, in a Miami Beach high rise, your monthly maintenance fee will cover insurance for hurricane, flood and any damage to the structural integrity and common grounds of the building. This will not cover your interior walls. For example, if in a hurricane, the roof of the building is damaged, the policy covering the building will pay for that. You will need a separate policy for that if the windows break and your entire unit, property contents are destroyed. Maximum storm surge in a CAT 5 Hurricane on Miami Beach is predicted at only 10-12 feet given the deep ocean waters along the coast unlike on gulf coast. This means as long as your unit is on the second floor you likely wouldn't have damage in storm surge to your unit but there may be structural damage to the building. A lot of cases in Katrina went to litigation because of storm surge vs. hurricane wind damage. If the cost isn't very high, better safe than sorry and get the flood coverage.

Remember also, all the units in the building may have to pay a special assessments especially in older buildings in bad hurricanes. If your association did not do its job right and elected to get coverage with very high deductibles and have underfunded reserves, all the owners in the building will have to pay a special assessment to make of the difference. It's always a good idea to ask A LOT of questions about the finances and health of any condo association you invest in. Some have really bad reputations and mismanagement.

As far as single family home properties on Miami Beach, insurance is very expensive. You have Citizen's the insurer of last resort typically being the only option available and they have a limit and won't insure high value properties over $1 Million. Then you are left to Lloyd's of London and the surplus lines market which will be extremely expensive. Many rich clients choose to pay for their homes in cash and go "bare" rather than pay $20,000 or $30,000 in insurance premiums especially if most of the value of the house is in waterfront land rather than the structure.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by Marc Middleton

Flood insurance covers any water intrusion. So if your neighbor's tub/water heater leaks into your apartment, your insurance won't cover it unless you have a separate flood policy.

Many people don't realize that. They think flood insurance is only necessary if you're near a body of water and in a flood zone. That is only when it is required, not when it is necessary. As you noted, flood insurance covers any external intrusion of water into your house. Flood insurance is relatively cheap if you're not in a FEMA flood zone and I think it's foolish for people not to have it. My policy comes to about $37/month.