South Merrick rebuilt itself after Sandy — it has one of the densest concentrations of elevated homes on Long Island — and that history gives Merrick storm claims a vocabulary most of the Island never needs: substantial damage determinations, elevation certificates, and ICC. This page is about the parts of that vocabulary that are worth money.
ICC: the coverage inside NFIP that nobody claims
Every standard NFIP flood policy includes Increased Cost of Compliance coverage — up to $30,000, separate from the damage payout — to help bring a substantially damaged home into compliance with current flood code: elevating, relocating, demolishing, or floodproofing.
- It triggers when the town declares the home substantially damaged — typically when repair cost exceeds 50 percent of the structure's market value
- It pays toward compliance work, not toward fixing the damage itself
- It can be combined with mitigation grants where those programs are open
- It has filing deadlines, and it is not paid automatically — you claim it
- Owners who patch quietly to dodge the substantial-damage label also walk away from the $30,000 that label unlocks
That last line is the Merrick-specific trap. The substantial damage determination feels like a penalty — it forces code compliance — but for a house that should be elevated anyway, it is the trigger that helps pay for it. Whether to repair under the threshold or rebuild through it is a real decision with real numbers on both sides, and it deserves an hour of honest arithmetic before demolition starts.
Already-elevated homes claim differently
For the houses that elevated after Sandy, the flood risk moved but did not vanish, and the claim profile changed shape. What is below the lowest elevated floor — garage bays, storage, breakaway walls — carries sharply limited flood coverage by design. Meanwhile the elevated structure takes more wind, so the homeowners-policy side of a storm grows while the flood side shrinks. Keep your elevation certificate where you can find it; it prices your flood policy and frames any post-storm compliance question.
North Merrick claims are ordinary
Above Sunrise Highway there is no flood zone and none of this applies — a North Merrick storm claim is a standard wind claim: document, tarp, scope, settle. The exotic vocabulary is a south-of-Sunrise concern.
What we do in the middle of it
We inspect and photograph for both files, meet the adjuster with a written scope, and — where a substantial damage question is live — put the repair-versus-threshold numbers side by side before anyone commits. The contractors who did this after Sandy learned the compliance machinery the hard way; the value of that experience is that you do not have to.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ICC coverage and do I have it?
Increased Cost of Compliance — up to $30,000 included in every standard NFIP flood policy, separate from the damage payout, to help bring a substantially damaged home up to current flood code by elevating, relocating, demolishing or floodproofing. It triggers on the town's substantial damage determination, it has filing deadlines, and it is never paid automatically. Owners who quietly patch to dodge the label also walk away from the money.
My house is already elevated. What changes in a storm claim?
The flood side shrinks and the wind side grows. Below the lowest elevated floor, coverage is sharply limited by design — garages, storage, breakaway walls. The elevated structure takes more wind, so the homeowners file carries more of the loss. Keep your elevation certificate findable: it prices the flood policy and frames any compliance question.
Should I file a claim before or after getting an inspection?
Inspection first. You want to know whether the damage exceeds your deductible before a claim goes on your record, because a filed claim that pays nothing still counts as a claim at renewal. We inspect and document at no charge and tell you honestly whether filing is worth it.
Related Reading
- Roof Insurance Claims — how the process really runs
- Storm Damage Roofs on Long Island — what wind actually does to a roof
- Documenting Roof Damage — what the adjuster needs to see
- Emergency Roof Repair — the first 24 hours
- Siding on Elevated Merrick Homes — the wall conditions elevation created
Also Serving Merrick
- Roofing in Merrick — roof replacement and repair
- Siding in Merrick — James Hardie and vinyl
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