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Updated September 8, 2026A federal flood policy stops at $250,000. Find out where that leaves your house.
An NFIP policy is capped by statute — $250,000 on the building, $100,000 on contents — no matter what your house is worth. In the Harris County claim records, 31.4% of policies were already sitting at that building ceiling, and 7.9% of those still had damage that went above it. This works out where your own numbers land. Nothing is saved or sent.
Put in what it would cost to rebuild.
Use replacement cost — what it would cost to rebuild the structure today — not the market value and not the tax-appraisal figure. Land is not insured, so a market price usually overstates it. If you do not know the number, your homeowners declarations page carries a dwelling amount that is the right starting point.
Federal limits current as of September 2026 for a residential NFIP policy. Coverage cannot be bound or changed through this page. This tool does not quote, rate, or determine eligibility for any coverage.
What the result does and does not mean.
A gap is not a recommendation
A number above the federal limit tells you what an NFIP policy would not reach. It does not tell you that you should buy more, that excess coverage is available to you, or what it would cost. Those are underwriting questions for a licensed person looking at your actual property.
The caps are set by statute, not by your agent
$250,000 on the building and $100,000 on contents are federal limits on a residential NFIP policy. No agent and no carrier can raise them. Coverage above those figures is a different product entirely.
Contents are separate, and separately capped
Building and contents are two coverages with two limits. Carrying the building limit does nothing for what is inside the house, and a contents claim is the one most renters and many owners never think about until it happens.
Replacement cost is the right input
Market value includes land, which cannot flood away and is not insured. Tax appraisal is a different calculation again. What matters here is what it would cost to rebuild the structure.
What the Harris County record shows about the cap.
Across the residential claims analysed in the county study, 31.4% of policies were already at the $250,000 building ceiling — those households had bought all the federal coverage that exists. 7.9% of them still recorded damage above it. Underinsurance across the whole set was 5.1% in an ordinary year and 11.1% during Harvey, with a median shortfall of $15,533. The gap is not a everyday problem; it is a catastrophic-year problem, and it opens at the top of the market.
Questions
Is this a quote?
No. It is subtraction against two limits fixed in federal regulation. It does not price anything, does not tell you what coverage to buy, and does not determine whether you qualify for anything. A quote comes from a licensed person looking at your actual property.
What if my house costs more than $250,000 to rebuild?
Then an NFIP policy alone would not reach the full rebuild cost. What sits above the federal ceiling is covered, if at all, by a different product — excess flood coverage, written outside the federal programme. Whether it is available for a given property, and on what terms, is an underwriting question, so it is a conversation rather than a calculation.
Does the building limit cover my belongings?
No. Building and contents are separate coverages with separate limits, and contents coverage has to be bought deliberately. Renters can buy contents coverage without any building coverage at all, since the structure is not theirs to insure.
Where do I find my rebuild cost?
The dwelling amount on your homeowners declarations page is the usual starting point — it is the figure that policy would pay to rebuild. It is not the same as what you paid for the house or what it would sell for, both of which include land.
Does this apply outside Houston?
The federal limits are national, so the arithmetic holds anywhere in the United States. The Harris County figures quoted alongside it are local, and are there for context rather than as part of the calculation.
Want this read against your actual policy?
Bring the declarations page. Ricardo Barcelo, Insurance Consultant, works out of 1235 North Loop W in Houston, in English or Spanish.