Title 44

SECTION 61.11

61.11 Effective date and time of coverage under the Standard Flood Insurance Policy - New Business Applications and Endorsements.

§ 61.11 Effective date and time of coverage under the Standard Flood Insurance Policy - New Business Applications and Endorsements. Link to an amendment published at 85 FR 43958, July 20, 2020.

(a) During the 13-month period beginning on the effective date of a revised Flood Hazard Boundary Map or Flood Insurance Rate Map for a community, the effective date and time of any initial flood insurance coverage shall be 12:01 a.m. (local time) on the first calendar day after the application date and the presentment of payment of premium; for example, a flood insurance policy applied for with the payment of the premium on May 1 will become effective at 12:01 a.m. on May 2.

(b) Where the initial purchase of flood insurance is in connection with the making, increasing, extension, or renewal of a loan, the coverage with respect to the property which is the subject of the loan shall be effective as of the time of the loan closing, provided the written request for the coverage is received by the NFIP and the flood insurance policy is applied for and the presentment of payment of premium is made at or prior to the loan closing.

(c) Except as provided by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the effective date and time of any new policy or added coverage or increase in the amount of coverage shall be 12:01 a.m. (local time) on the 30th calendar day after the application date and the presentment of payment of premium; for example, a flood insurance policy applied for with the payment of the premium on May 1 will become effective at 12:01 a.m. on May 31.

(d) Adding new coverage or increasing the amount of coverage in force is permitted during the term of any policy. The additional premium for any new coverage or increase in the amount of coverage shall be calculated pro rata in accordance with the rates currently in force.

(e) With respect to any submission of an application in connection with new business, the payment by an insured to an agent or the issuance of premium payment by the agent, does not constitute payment to the NFIP, except where a WYO Company receives an application and premium payment from one of its agents and elects to refer the business to the NFIP Servicing Agent because the WYO Company does not wish to write the business, in which case any applicable waiting period under this section shall be calculated in accordance with the first sentence of paragraph (f) of this section. Therefore, it is important that an application for Flood Insurance and its premium be mailed to the NFIP promptly in order to have the effective date of the coverage based on the application date plus the waiting period. If the application and the premium payment are received at the office of the NFIP within ten (10) days from the date of application, the waiting period will be calculated from the date of application. Also, as an alternative, in those cases where the application and premium payment are mailed by certified mail within four (4) days from the date of application, the waiting period will be calculated from the date of application even though the application and premium payment are received at the office of the NFIP after ten (10) days following the date of application. Thus, if the application and premium payment are received after ten (10) days from the date of the application or are not mailed by certified mail within four (4) days from the date of application, the waiting period will be calculated from the date of receipt at the office of the NFIP. To determine the effective date of any coverage added by endorsement to a flood insurance policy already in effect, substitute the term endorsement for the term application in this paragraph (e).

(f) With respect to the submission of an application in connection with new business, a renewal of a policy in effect and an endorsement to a policy in effect, the payment by an insured to an agent or the issuance of premium payment to a Write-Your-Own (WYO) Company by the agent, accompanied by a properly completed application, renewal or endorsement form, as appropriate, shall commence the calculation of any applicable waiting period under this section, provided that the agent is acting in the capacity of an agent of a Write-Your-Own (WYO) Company authorized by 44 CFR 62.23, is under written contract to or is an employee of such Company, and such WYO Company is, at the time of such submission of an application in connection with new business or a renewal of or endorsement to flood insurance coverage, engaged in WYO business under an arrangement entered into by the Federal Insurance Administrator and the WYO Company pursuant to § 62.23.

(g) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (f) of this section, the rules set forth in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this section apply to WYO Companies, except that premium payments and accompanying applications and endorsements shall be mailed to and received by the WYO Company, rather than the NFIP.

[43 FR 50427, Oct. 30, 1978. Redesignated at 44 FR 31177, May 31, 1979, as amended at 46 FR 13514, Feb. 23, 1981; 48 FR 39069, Aug. 29, 1983; 48 FR 44544, Sept. 29, 1983; 49 FR 33656, Aug. 24, 1984; 50 FR 16242, Apr. 25, 1985; 50 FR 36026, Sept. 4, 1985; 51 FR 30309, Aug. 25, 1986; 53 FR 15211, Apr. 28, 1988; 60 FR 5585, 5586, Jan. 30, 1995]