FEMA Fact Sheet: Add a Repetitive Loss Provision to Local FPM Regulations

April 2022

Build Resilience: Add a Repetitive Loss 

Provision to Local Floodplain 

Management Regulations

Did you know that National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders may be eligible 

for up to $30,000 if their home is repetitively damaged? Adding a repetitive loss provision 

to your community’s floodplain management regulations (also referred to as your 

community’s floodplain management ordinance) allows local NFIP policyholders to access 

up to $30,000 of additional funding through Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage. 

This ICC coverage helps cover costs of building back stronger when repairing or rebuilding 

flood-damaged homes or businesses in your community.

A Repetitive Loss Provision Benefits Your Community

Buildings (i.e., home or business) insured through the NFIP may be eligible for up to $30,000 in ICC coverage if 

substantially damaged or your community has a repetitive loss provision and a building is repetitively damaged. 

Unfortunately, many communities don’t have a repetitive loss provision which limits policyholders’ ability to access 

ICC coverage to help rebuild after a flood. The example below illustrates how ICC coverage enabled the Smiths to file 

an ICC claim for an additional $30,000 to mitigate their home that was repetitively damaged. 

Market Value of the Smiths’ Home ...................................................... $240,000

2015 Flood Insurance Claim ................................................................... $35,000

2020 Flood Insurance Claim ................................................................... $90,000

Local Floodplain Ordinance Includes Repetitive Loss Provision ....................... 

Two Claims Filed in 10-year Period ..................................................................... 

Claims Averaged >25% of Home’s Market Value .............................................. 

Finding: Eligible for ICC Claim of up to $30,000 

Action: Smiths elevate their home and reduce flood risk 

Benefits of a Repetitive Loss Provision

Including a repetitive loss provision in floodplain management regulations or ordinances can provide access to ICC 

coverage of up to $30,000 to mitigate repetitive loss buildings. ICC coverage benefits the entire community by:

 Helping to offset the cost of mitigating like elevating

 Earning additional points for Community Rating System (CRS) communities

 Improving building values compared to those which are repetitively flooded and not mitigated
Add a Repetitive Loss Provision to Local FPM Regulations

Learn more at fema.gov April 2022 2 

 Contributing to a community’s cost-share for certain FEMA grants

 Reducing flood damage, lessening disaster relief efforts and creating a more resilient community

Add a Repetitive Loss Provision to Support Your Community

Increase your community’s resilience by including a repetitive loss provision when: 

 Updating your state model ordinance or identifying recommended actions after a community audit

 Reviewing local regulations and ordinances after a Letter of Final Determination is issued for a new or updated 

Flood Insurance Rate Map

 Determining strategies a CRS community can use to reduce their number of repetitive loss properties

While a repetitive loss provision offers many benefits, the decision to adopt this provision is voluntary and requires 

additional reporting and administrative procedures including tracking repetitive losses (e.g., date and cost of 

repairs) and requiring non-conforming, repetitively damaged buildings be brought into compliance with current 

floodplain management requirements. You can find a sample repetitive loss provision in FEMA’s Increased Cost of 

Compliance Coverage-Guidance for State and Local Officials (FEMA 301). For additional information about ICC, visit 

www.fema.gov/floodplain-management/financial-help/increased-cost-compliance. 

ICC Requirements 

To qualify for ICC based on cumulative or repetitive losses: 

 An NFIP participating community must have a cumulative, substantial damage provision or repetitive loss 

provision in its floodplain management law or ordinance being enforced against the building and for all nonconforming buildings in the Special Flood Hazard Area. 

 The community building official must determine that the building is either repetitively or substantially 

damaged and must be rebuilt to current standards to reduce flood damage. 

Key Definitions

Repetitive Loss: A building covered by an NFIP flood insurance policy that has incurred flood-related damages on 

two occasions during a 10-year period ending on the date of the event for which a second claim is made, in 

which the cost of repairing the flood damage, on average, equaled or exceeded 25% of the market value of the 

building at the time of each such flood event. Note: The combined damage total must be 50% of the value of the 

building before the damage occurred, but it need not be evenly distributed. 

Substantial Damage: Any damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the 

structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure 

before the damage occurred. For NFIP policyholders to be eligible for ICC, the property damage must be due to 

flooding. 

Non-Conforming: A structure that complied with the floodplain management requirements in effect when 

permitted, but base flood elevations, flood zones, and/or FPM regulations have since changed. Although a legal 

non-conforming structure may have been in compliance at the time it was constructed, it must come into 

compliance with current NFIP regulations or codes when a triggering event occurs, such as substantial 

improvement or substantial damage.