Beverly, MA Home Insurance: Bass River, Beverly Farms and Coastal Homes

By Jon Merwin, Founder and CEO

Home · Flood · Condo · Umbrella · Massachusetts

Beverly homes range from older houses downtown and near the harbor to waterfront homes on Beverly Cove and large estates in Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing. Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance is an independent agency licensed in Massachusetts. We insure Beverly homes from our Portsmouth, NH office by phone, email and online, and shop each one across 40+ carriers. We are the most-reviewed independent insurance agency in New Hampshire, with 1,000+ Google reviews and over 2,000 testimonials across our two offices. Start with Massachusetts homeowners insurance, or keep reading.

Beverly at a glance

The city’s 2017 Coastal Resiliency Plan describes Beverly as a city of over 40,000 people on 15.4 square miles, about 23 miles north of Boston, with more than 11 miles of coastline that includes rocky outcroppings, tidal river basins, sandy beaches and salt marsh. It traces the city’s history to 1626, from farming to a maritime economy with wharves and warehouses along the inner harbor, then to shoe manufacturing. It says that in the early 20th century, the Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing neighborhoods grew with a wave of tourism along the Beverly and Cape Ann coast, and the area became known as the “gold coast” for its large estates and mansions.

Where you live in Beverly changes the policy

• The Bass River. The plan says the city’s vulnerability assessment shows a high risk of storm-surge inundation along the length of the Bass River, affecting industrial areas on its east side and residential areas on its west banks, and that the storm needed to cause that flooding gets smaller as sea level rises. It describes an earlier problem where the Bass River backed up into a drain pipe and flooded the Chase Street and Federal Street area at high tide and in storms, which the city addressed with the Margin Street stormwater pump station and larger piping. In 2023 the city launched a Bass River Resilience Study focused on the district.
• Chubbs Brook and the Beverly Farms marshes. The plan calls the Chubbs Creek marshes on the Beverly–Manchester line the city’s largest salt marsh, and says storm surge could inundate large residential areas next to the marsh system, with areas along Hale Street and West Street at risk by 2030.
• Beverly Farms and Prides Crossing estates. Large, older homes on big lots bring high rebuild costs, extensive contents, outbuildings and staff or guest liability. Carrier fit changes quickly as the rebuild cost rises.
• Beverly Cove, the harbor and the beaches. The plan names Dane Street Beach, Patch Beach, Mingo Beach and West Beach among the city’s sandy beaches, and notes the city studied storm surge impacts at the Dane Street Beach area as early as 1993. Waterfront homes need careful attention to flood, wind and the named storm deductible.
• Downtown and inland neighborhoods. Away from the water, older-home systems, roof age, water backup coverage and rebuild cost usually matter most.

Flood coverage in Beverly

A homeowners policy will not pay for rising water, whether it is storm surge up the Bass River, a tide over a marsh or water backing up through a storm drain. Flood is its own policy. The city’s FEMA flood maps page explains that Beverly disputed the 2014 floodplain maps and that FEMA approved revisions effective May 5, 2017, for parts of the West End (from about Quincy Park to Bay View Avenue) and the East End (from about Paine Avenue to the Manchester line). If you are in one of those areas, make sure your flood zone reflects the revised panel. Check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.

• NFIP through Selective. We write National Flood Insurance Program policies through Selective, a Write Your Own carrier. The NFIP covers up to $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents. New policies generally have a 30-day waiting period (see FloodSmart), so buy before storm season, not during it.
• Private flood. When a home costs more than the NFIP building limit to rebuild, or you want coverage the NFIP leaves out, we compare Flow Flood, Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge. Each one decides address by address.
• Elevation certificates. If you have one, send it. If the house has been raised or has flood vents, it can make a real difference in how flood carriers rate it.

More on how flood policies work is in our flood insurance overview.

Hurricane and named storm deductibles: know the dollar figure

Shoreline policies in Massachusetts commonly carry a separate hurricane or named storm deductible. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance puts the usual range at 1% to 5% of insured value. Because it is a percentage, the more your house is insured for, the larger the check after a storm. We convert each option to dollars so you can weigh a lower premium against a bigger deductible. If no standard carrier will write a house, the Massachusetts FAIR Plan is a last resort, and we will put it side by side with any private option.

Large estates and older homes

Under about $2 million, most of our 40+ carriers are in play. Andover writes up to about $2.25 million in Massachusetts, sometimes higher with underwriting approval. Around $2 million to $3 million, Hanover is among the carriers we compare. Over about $3 million, Cincinnati is our go-to, and Chubb, which focuses on high-value homes, joins it at $5 million and up. Whatever the size, we build the dwelling limit around the cost to rebuild, not the market value, and we look at extended or guaranteed replacement cost where a carrier offers it.

For a Beverly Farms or Prides Crossing estate, we also look at guaranteed or extended replacement cost, scheduled art and jewelry, and coverage for outbuildings and grounds. For older homes downtown and near the harbor, we build the replacement estimate around restoration-quality work and add ordinance or law coverage. See coastal Massachusetts high-value home insurance and historic home insurance.

Condos

For condo owners, your HO-6 covers what the association master policy leaves out, often interior finishes, improvements, belongings, liability and loss assessment. Bring the master policy declarations page and we will size it. See Massachusetts condo insurance.

Renters and tenants in Beverly

If you rent in Beverly, your landlord’s policy covers the building, not your belongings or your liability. A renters policy covers both, plus extra living costs after a covered loss. We shop renters coverage across our carriers, and Progressive Home is one of them; we use Progressive Home for renters policies only. Landlords who own two- to four-family buildings can see landlord insurance.

Boats, moorings and liability

The plan notes hundreds of slips and moorings in Beverly Harbor and the Bass River. If you keep a boat there, check whether your homeowners policy covers it at all; a separate watercraft policy is often the right answer. A personal umbrella sits above home, auto and watercraft liability.

Common coverage gaps we see in Beverly

• A dwelling limit based on the purchase price or assessed value instead of the cost to rebuild
• No water backup coverage on a house with a finished basement
• Personal property limits that have not kept up with what the household actually owns
• Liability limits on the home and auto that do not line up with an umbrella, or no umbrella at all
• No ordinance or law coverage on an older home that would need code upgrades after a loss
• No flood policy on a home near the Bass River, Chubbs Brook marshes or the harbor
• A large estate insured to market value rather than full rebuild cost

Most of these are straightforward to fix once someone reads the declarations pages side by side, and that is the first thing we do in a review.

Before storm season in Beverly

• Know your hurricane or named storm deductible in dollars, not just as a percentage
• Photograph or video each room so a contents claim is easier to document
• Keep your declarations pages, flood policy and any elevation certificate somewhere you can reach from your phone
• If you are thinking about flood coverage, buy it well ahead of a storm because of the waiting period
• If you are on a revised 2017 map panel, keep the map revision documentation with your flood policy

Buying a home in Beverly

Start the insurance conversation before you are under contract, not the week of closing. Send us the listing and the inspection report when you have it. The report answers most of what carriers ask: roof age, electrical panel, heating, plumbing and any water in the basement. Near the water or the Bass River, ask for any elevation certificate and the current flood policy, which can sometimes be assigned to a buyer. We line up the homeowners binder, and a flood binder if you need one, so both are ready for your lender.

How a Beverly home quote works

• Tell us about the house: address, year built, square footage, roof age and updates to wiring, plumbing and heating.
• Send your current declarations page so we can compare like for like and point out limits that look short.
• We shop the carriers that fit and lay the options out side by side, with the differences in coverage, deductibles and storm terms, not just price.
• You choose, and we handle the switch, including your mortgage company and the effective date, so there is no gap.

Serving Beverly from Portsmouth, NH

We do not have a Massachusetts office. We insure Beverly homes from Portsmouth, NH, by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020. Nearby, see our Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Swampscott and Gloucester pages. Also nearby: our Danvers, Wenham and Hamilton pages.

Sources

• City of Beverly, Coastal Resiliency Plan, June 30, 2017
• City of Beverly, FEMA Flood Maps
• City of Beverly, Bass River Resilience Study
• Massachusetts Division of Insurance, hurricane preparedness
• Massachusetts FAIR Plan
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center
• FloodSmart, buying a flood policy

Get a quote

Tell us about the property and we will compare carriers and follow up with options. Prefer to talk? Call (603) 431-4020.

Frequently asked questions

Do you insure homes in Beverly, MA?

Yes. We are licensed in Massachusetts and insure Beverly homes from our Portsmouth, NH office by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020. We do not have a Massachusetts office.

Which parts of Beverly flood?

The city’s Coastal Resiliency Plan studied five areas prone to storm inundation: the Bass River, Beverly Cove, Beverly Farms, Beverly Harbor and Chubbs Brook. Check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and note the 2017 map revisions for parts of the West End and East End.

Does homeowners insurance cover a flooded basement?

Not from flood. Water backup from sewers, drains or a sump pump is an add-on, and rising or surface water needs a flood policy.

Who writes your NFIP flood policies?

We write NFIP policies through Selective, and we compare private flood from Flow Flood, Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge.

Do you charge fees?

No. We do not charge any fees on any policy we write, including home, condo, renters, auto, flood and umbrella.