Do You Need Flood Insurance in the Farmington Valley?

I opened The Beam Agency in November 2024, about three months after the August 2024 storms put parts of Unionville and the Farmington Valley under water. A lot of the first conversations I had in this office were with people who had just found out, the hard way, that their homeowners policy did not cover what happened to their basement. Two years later I still get the question every week: do I actually need flood insurance here? Here is how I answer it.

Start with the fact that matters most

Standard homeowners insurance excludes flood. Not “limits” it. Excludes it. Surface water, overflow of a river or stream, storm runoff coming across the yard and into the basement, mudflow. If water from outside rises and comes in, a homeowners policy pays nothing, no matter how good the policy is or which carrier wrote it. The same is true of condo policies, renters policies and landlord policies on rental property.

Flood coverage comes from one of two places: the National Flood Insurance Program, which is federal, or a private flood carrier. I will get to the difference below. The point for now is that if you want the water covered, you have to buy a separate policy.

What August 2024 taught the Valley

The storms in August 2024 dropped an extraordinary amount of rain on western Connecticut in a short window. In the Farmington Valley, the worst of it hit Unionville and the areas along the Farmington River and its smaller tributaries. Brooks that most people never think about came over their banks. Roads closed. Basements and first floors in Farmington and Unionville filled with water, and some of those houses were nowhere near a mapped flood zone.

That last part is the lesson. People assume that if the bank did not make them buy flood insurance, they are not at risk. The map tells you where the lender requires coverage. It does not tell you where water goes in a storm that dumps months of rain in a day. Plenty of the August 2024 damage was outside the high-risk zones, and none of it was covered by homeowners insurance.

Farmington’s flood maps are changing

FEMA has updated flood mapping for Farmington, and some properties that were not in a special flood hazard area before are now, or will be. If you have a mortgage and your property moves into a mapped high-risk zone, your lender will require flood insurance, and you will typically hear about it in a letter from the bank.

If that letter arrives, call an agent before you accept whatever the bank’s force-placed policy costs. Force-placed coverage is usually more expensive and covers less. You can buy your own NFIP or private policy and the lender has to accept it if it meets their requirements.

If you are buying a house in Farmington, Unionville, Avon, Simsbury, Canton or Burlington, check the flood zone before you close, not after. It affects the cost of owning the house.

Who I tell to buy it

Everyone near the Farmington River and its tributaries, obviously, whether or not they are in a mapped zone. Beyond that, the households I push hardest are:

• Anyone in a mapped high-risk zone, because the lender will require it anyway and you should own the policy rather than the bank.
• Homes in Unionville and low-lying parts of Farmington near the river, the Pequabuck where it comes in from Plainville, and the smaller brooks that flooded in 2024.
• Homes along the river in Avon and Simsbury, and in the Collinsville section of Canton, where the Farmington River runs right through the village.
• Burlington properties near brooks and ponds, where hillside runoff in a heavy storm has nowhere to go but down.
• Bristol and Plainville homes and rentals along the Pequabuck River, which has its own history of coming up.
• Anyone with a finished basement, with one warning: NFIP policies cover very little below grade beyond the structure and mechanicals, so a private flood policy or a larger water backup limit may do more for a finished basement than NFIP will.

Outside those situations, in a house on high ground with good drainage, flood coverage is a judgment call. It is usually inexpensive in a low-risk zone, often a few hundred dollars a year, and after 2024 a lot of people in the Valley have decided that is worth it.

Water backup is not flood insurance

This trips people up constantly. Water backup coverage is an endorsement you add to a homeowners policy. It covers water that backs up through a sewer or drain, or overflows from a sump pump that fails or gets overwhelmed. It is cheap and I put it on nearly every policy I write with a basement.

It is not flood insurance. If the river comes over the bank and water flows in through the bulkhead, water backup does not respond. If the storm drain in the street backs up into your basement through the floor drain, it might. The line between the two can get argued at claim time, and it is one reason I want people near water to carry both.

NFIP versus private flood

NFIP is the federal program. It is available almost everywhere, the policy form is the same for everyone, and it is what most lenders expect. Its limits are fixed and can fall short on a larger home, contents coverage is often actual cash value, and there is generally no coverage for loss of use, meaning the hotel while your house dries out.

Private flood is written by private carriers, including some in the excess and specialty markets. Private policies can offer higher limits, replacement cost on contents, loss of use, and sometimes a lower price, especially for well-built homes in moderate-risk areas. They are not available for every property, and a few lenders are still fussy about accepting them, though that is less common than it used to be.

I quote both when I can and show you the difference side by side.

The 30-day waiting period

NFIP policies have a 30-day waiting period before coverage starts, with limited exceptions, the main one being a policy bought in connection with a mortgage closing. That means you cannot watch the forecast and buy flood insurance the day before a storm. If August 2024 taught the Valley anything, it is to buy it in the spring, not the week the river is rising. Private flood carriers often have shorter waiting periods, but they have them too.

What to do this week

Look up your address on FEMA’s flood map. Walk outside and figure out where the water goes when it rains hard. Check whether your policy has water backup coverage, and if it does not, add it. Then, if you are anywhere near the Farmington River, the Pequabuck or a brook that flooded in 2024, get a flood quote and see the number before you decide.

I write flood coverage for families in Farmington, Unionville, Avon, Simsbury, Canton, Burlington, Bristol and Plainville, alongside the rest of their personal insurance. Call (860) 672-1733, send a note, or email brandon@thebeamagency.com with your address and I will tell you what zone you are in and what a policy looks like.