With Waters and Mandates Rising, HoneyQuote Adds Flood Insurance Price Tool

As more policyholders with Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance are statutorily required to purchase flood insurance, another insurance rate-quoting service has gotten in on the act.

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Officials with HoneyQuote.com announced Monday that the firm has started offering flood insurance quotes from multiple private flood insurance companies. The service joins at least nine other online tools that provide price quotes.

“Florida homeowners are now navigating a rapidly changing insurance landscape,” said Justin Zemaitis, chief insurance officer at HoneyQuote. “By partnering with leading private insurers, we’re providing tailored flood insurance options that empower residents to make informed decisions about protecting their homes.”

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HoneyQuote, calling itself a digital insurance agency, has specialized in the online marketplace, particularly for Florida homeowners and condominiums. NSI Insurance Group, a privately owned brokerage, owns a majority stake in HoneyQuote.

Adding flood quotes to its system comes as hurricanes and other storms appear to be intensifying, bringing heavier and more-frequent rainfall and flooding to areas across the Southeast. And Florida law, mandating flood coverage for Citizens’ homeowners, now enters its third year of phased-in coverage requirements. Starting this year, homes valued at $500,000 or more must purchase flood coverage if they remain with Citizens, Florida’s insurer of last resort and the state’s largest property carrier. Next January, the home-value threshold drops to $400,000. By 2027, all Citizens’ policyholders must buy flood, regardless of location or elevation.

The HoneyQuote tool includes quotes from up to a dozen private companies, some of which are write-your-own firms offering National Flood Insurance Program policies. A comparison of the site to NFIP’s own quote tool shows that policies from HoneyQuote’s tool were similar to policies priced directly through the federal program.

For a 1,500-square-foot Pensacola, Florida, home built in 1953 just outside the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s special flood hazard area, for example, HoneyQuote’s online tool produced eight quotes between $483 a year and $716 per year. Coverage was set at $250,000 to $269,000 for the building and $68,000 for contents. Only one private flood insurer came in at more than that – with premiums above $2,500 annually.

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NFIP limits coverage to $250,000. So, for the same property with similar coverage, the quotes were between $571 and $620 per year, according to the NFIP’s online tool.

Top photo: Mike Kelley navigates flooded streets in Geneva, Florida, following Hurricane Ian in 2022. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Related: FEMA Flood Maps May be Exacerbating Building in Some Flood Areas

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