Merrimack, NH Home Insurance

By Jon Merwin, Founder and CEO

Home · Condo · Landlord · Flood · Umbrella · Merrimack, New Hampshire

Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance is an independent agency founded in 2005 and licensed in 10 states. We are New Hampshire’s highest-rated agency on Google, with 1,000+ Google reviews and over 2,000 testimonials. We shop each Merrimack home across 40+ carriers. Start with New Hampshire homeowners insurance, or read on.

Merrimack at a glance

The town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan 2026, prepared with the Nashua Regional Planning Commission, describes Merrimack as 33.4 square miles (about 21,376 acres). It borders Bedford to the north, Amherst to the west, Hollis and Nashua to the south and Litchfield to the east, and the Merrimack River runs along the whole Litchfield line. Citing the 2023 American Community Survey, the plan counts about 10,214 households. About 84% of the housing is single-family homes, and the rest is largely multifamily. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 29,699 residents as of July 1, 2025.

The plan names the Everett Turnpike, Daniel Webster Highway and NH Route 101A as the main routes, and Reeds Ferry and Thorntons Ferry as neighborhoods with their own elementary schools. Whether your home is older or new, the dwelling limit should reflect today’s cost to rebuild, not the purchase price or the assessed value.

Where you live in Merrimack changes the policy

• Along the Merrimack River. The river forms the entire eastern border with Litchfield. The plan lists Island Drive, Wire Road and Brenda Lane, areas along the river and the McGraw Bridge area among places prone to flooding.
• The Souhegan River. The plan records 5 Merrimack homes flooded by a Souhegan River ice jam in March 1977, and it lists Souhegan crossings among the bridges in the 1% annual floodplain.
• Baboosic Brook and Baboosic Lake. The plan lists areas of Baboosic Road and several Baboosic Brook culverts and bridges among flood-prone spots, and it records a March 1977 ice jam on the brook that cost $80,000 to replace a bridge. Lakefront homes should check their flood zone carefully.
• Naticook Lake, Greens Pond and Horseshoe Pond. If you live on one of these ponds, tell us. Waterfront and seasonal use both affect the policy.
• Condos and multifamily. With much of the non-single-family housing in multifamily buildings, many Merrimack owners need an HO-6 or landlord policy rather than a standard homeowners form.

Flood coverage in Merrimack

Merrimack joined the NFIP on July 16, 1979, and its current flood map took effect September 25, 2009. The plan reports 95 NFIP policies with $22,316,200 of coverage, and 51 paid losses totaling $1,205,852. It lists 8 repetitive-loss properties, all single-family homes, with $818,835 in repetitive-loss payments. In a town of more than 10,000 households, that means most homes have no flood policy.

A homeowners policy will not pay for a river over its banks or surface water. Flood is its own policy. Lenders require flood insurance for federally backed mortgages in a special flood hazard area, but homes outside mapped zones flood too, especially in spring melt and ice jams. 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.

See our flood insurance overview. Water backup (sewer, drain or sump pump failure) is an add-on to homeowners; flood is separate. If your basement is finished, ask about both. See basement flooding coverage and our flood insurance overview.

Storm history

The plan’s flood history goes back to the March 1936 flood. It includes Merrimack River floods in 1942, 1944 and 1960, and the May 2006 and April 2007 Hillsborough County floods, both rated 100- to 500-year events. Its ice storm table includes January 1998 and December 2008. It also records a July 16, 2024 microburst in Milford and surrounding towns with 95 mph winds. Ask us how your policy handles fallen trees, ice dams and long outages.

Winter, trees and wind in Merrimack

New Hampshire winters bring ice dams, frozen pipes and heavy snow loads, and storms bring down trees and limbs. These are generally homeowners claims, subject to your deductible and policy terms. A properly sized wind and all-perils deductible, and a roof in good shape, do more for most homeowners than any single add-on. Water damage from a burst pipe is usually covered when the home is heated and occupied; long vacancies can change that, so tell us if the house will sit empty.

Larger homes

Under about $2 million, most of our 40+ carriers are in play. In New Hampshire, Andover generally writes up to about $1.5 million, or closer to $1 million for homes far from a hydrant or fire station. Around $2 million to $3 million, Hanover is often a fit, and Cincinnati and Chubb both write homes at any dwelling limit, so we quote both. Each carrier underwrites the specific house, so these are starting points, not promises.

See high-value home insurance in New Hampshire.

Condos, rentals and multi-family homes

Your HO-6 condo policy covers what the association’s master policy does not: usually your interior, improvements, belongings, liability and loss assessments. See condo insurance in New Hampshire. If you rent out a house or own a multifamily building, you need a dwelling or landlord policy. It covers the building, lost rent and your liability, and we don’t charge fees on those either.

Renters and tenants in Merrimack

If you rent in Merrimack, 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.

Auto, umbrella and the rest of the household

Most Merrimack households also need auto insurance, and many add a personal umbrella. We quote them with the home so the liability limits line up, and we put rentals, second homes, boats and valuables under the same review. One agent, one renewal conversation.

Common coverage gaps we see in Merrimack

• 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 Merrimack River, the Souhegan, Baboosic Brook or a pond
• A home insured for its purchase price or assessed value instead of its 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 Merrimack

• 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
• Near a river or brook, watch for ice jams in late winter, keep valuables off the basement floor and test your sump pump each spring

Buying a home in Merrimack

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 river, a brook or a pond, ask for any elevation certificate and the seller’s flood policy, and price flood before you commit. We line up the homeowners binder, and a flood binder if you need one, so both are ready for your lender.

How a Merrimack 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 Merrimack from Portsmouth

Our office is at 601 Islington St, Unit 206, Portsmouth, NH 03801, and we work with Merrimack clients by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020. Nearby, see our Bedford, Amherst and Hollis pages, or our guide to New Hampshire. Nearby, see our Nashua page.

Sources

• Town of Merrimack, Hazard Mitigation Plan 2026 (Nashua Regional Planning Commission)
• U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 subcounty population estimates
• 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 Merrimack, NH?

Yes. We insure Merrimack homes from our Portsmouth office at 601 Islington St, and by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020.

Does Merrimack flood?

In some areas. The town’s 2026 hazard mitigation plan says about 5.47% of Merrimack is floodplain, mainly along the Merrimack and Souhegan rivers and Baboosic Brook, and it lists Island Drive, Wire Road, Brenda Lane and areas of Baboosic Road among flood-prone areas. Merrimack has 8 repetitive-loss homes. Check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.

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 don’t charge fees on any policy we write, including homeowners, condo, renters, landlord, dwelling and auto.