Primary Residence Rules Clarified: 

For rating purposes, a primary residence means a building that will be lived in by the insured or the insured's spouse for more than 50 percent of the 365 calendar days following the current policy effective date unless the policyholder does not establish or acquire another residence or use the residence as a rental or income property any time during the policy term.

 

Three additional clarifications have come from the NFIP:

 

1. Always select Non-Primary Residence for Multi-unit Buildings: The residence status on building coverage policies is always Non-primary for Multi-unit buildings, such as a 2-4 Family or Other Residential that are NOT an individual condo unit.  The HFIAA surcharge applicable to multi-family buildings is the $250 non-primary residence surcharge, as clarified by the NFIP recently.  Contents only policies purchased by the tenant may still select Primary Residence.
2. Select Non-Primary residence for all tenant-purchased residential building coverage, even if the tenant is a full time resident.  When a tenant purchases building coverage as part of his lease agreement, except for a condo unit, that policy should be written in the name of the building owner as well as the tenant.  A selection of Non-primary residence should be chosen for tenant purchased building coverage as the tenant is not eligible for primary residence status for the building coverage regardless of the percentage of occupancy.   A separate policy for tenant owned contents coverage only may be written with primary residence.
3. Important exceptions made for Military, Displaced or Absent Primary Residents:
   • Active-duty military personnel who are deployed for 50 percent or more of the policy year in compliance with military orders;
   • Policyholders displaced from a primary residence and living in a temporary residence due to a federally declared disaster or a loss event on the primary residence claimed on any line of insurance for 50 percent or more of the policy year; or
   • Policyholders who are absent from a primary residence for reasons such as routine business travel, hospitalizations, and/or vacation for 50 percent or more of the policy year.

If there are questions regarding these or any questions on the flood insurance application, please contact Wright Flood customer service at 1-800-820-3242.