Newbury, MA Home Insurance

By Jon Merwin, Founder and CEO

Home · Condo · Landlord · Flood · Umbrella · Newbury, Massachusetts

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

Newbury at a glance

The Merrimack Valley Region Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan 2024, prepared by the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, describes Newbury as a low-lying, gently rolling town that rises from sea level to 168 feet at the top of Old Town Hill. It counts 6,716 residents and 2,533 households in the 2020 census. By assessor’s data, land use is 61% recreational and 26% residential, and wetland (38%) and forest (36%) cover most of the land. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 6,895 residents as of July 1, 2025.

The plan describes three distinct areas. Old Town, along Route 1A and High Road, is anchored by the Lower and Upper Greens. Byfield, west of Route 1, was created as a parish of Newbury in 1706 and is mostly residential, with some farms. Plum Island is a barrier island at the town’s eastern end. Each one raises different insurance questions.

Where you live in Newbury changes the policy

• Plum Island. The plan says the developed part of the island began as a vacation retreat, with small lots laid out in the 1920s and many modest summer-camp-style homes. Since municipal water and sewer arrived in 2007, scores of those homes have been converted or torn down and rebuilt as year-round houses. A rebuilt, elevated house and an original camp next door can rate very differently.
• Plum Island Turnpike. The plan calls the turnpike the only vehicular road on and off the island. In January 2024, two back-to-back storms closed it, and the town stationed police and an ambulance on the island during the closures.
• Erosion on the island. The plan describes acute erosion from nor’easters, including the series of storms in early March 2013 that cut a path of destruction along Plum Island.
• The Parker River and Great Marsh. The Parker River crosses the lower third of town, and its tidal stretch runs about nine miles. The plan’s chronic flooding list includes Pine Island Road, Cottage Road, Newman Road, Hay Street at Newman Road, Middle Road at Thurlow’s Bridge, and the Newburyport Turnpike at the Parker River Bridge.
• Byfield and Old Town. The list also includes Highfield Road, Orchard Street at Cart Creek and Courser Brook, Larkin Road, River Street and Moody Street near Ash Street. The plan says flooding is worst when high river flows from heavy rain coincide with high tides.

Flood coverage in Newbury

Newbury’s first flood insurance rate map dates to 1977. FEMA’s Essex County Flood Insurance Study lists FIRM revisions for Newbury in 1986, 1992, 2012, 2014 and July 8, 2025. The plan says the 2012 and 2014 maps grew the flood hazard area by about 1,247 acres combined, so many homes that were outside the floodplain are now inside it. That’s why the count of buildings in a floodplain rose from 124 in 2008 to 1,082, a change the plan attributes to the maps, not to new construction there. Together the 100- and 500-year floodplains cover 48% of the town. State data cited in the plan shows 17 repetitive-loss sites: 13 single-family homes, 2 multi-family or condo properties and 2 others.

A homeowners policy will not pay for storm surge, tidal flooding or a river over its banks. Flood is its own policy. Lenders require flood insurance for federally backed mortgages in a special flood hazard area. With the 2025 map revision, check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and ask us how a zone change could affect your premium or your lender’s requirements.

• 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.

Nor’easters, wind and winter

The plan says the January 2024 storms caused more significant flooding on Plum Island and elsewhere in town than the 2006 Mother’s Day storms. The town made two water rescues from vehicles, on Middle Road and Newman Road. Coastal Massachusetts homeowners policies often carry a separate wind or named-storm deductible, sometimes a percentage of the dwelling limit, and terms vary by carrier and distance to the water. Know that number in dollars. Fallen trees, ice dams and frozen pipes are generally homeowners claims, subject to your deductible and policy terms.

Larger and waterfront 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. Cincinnati and Chubb both write homes at any dwelling limit, so we quote both. 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.

See high-value home insurance in Massachusetts and coastal Massachusetts high-value homes.

Condos, rentals and second homes

Your HO-6 condo policy covers what the association’s master policy does not: usually your interior, improvements, belongings, liability and loss assessments. In a two- or three-unit condo, see condex insurance in Massachusetts. If you rent out a Plum Island house, seasonally or year-round, you need a dwelling or landlord policy, and a home that sits empty part of the year may need seasonal home coverage. We don’t charge fees on those either.

Renters and tenants in Newbury

If you rent in Newbury, 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 Newbury 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 Newbury

• 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 Plum Island or Parker River home, especially one newly mapped into a flood zone
• A camp converted to a year-round home that is still insured as seasonal

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 Newbury

• 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
• On Plum Island, plan for the turnpike closing at high tide during a storm, and leave early with vehicles and medications

Buying a home in Newbury

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. On Plum Island or near the Parker River, ask for any elevation certificate and the seller’s flood policy, and check the zone against FEMA’s July 2025 maps. We line up the homeowners binder, and a flood binder if you need one, so both are ready for your lender.

How a Newbury 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 Newbury from Portsmouth, NH

We do not have a Massachusetts office. We insure Newbury homes from our Portsmouth, NH office, and work by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020. Nearby, see our Newburyport and Salisbury pages. Nearby, see our Ipswich page.

Sources

• Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, Merrimack Valley Region Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan 2024 (FEMA-approved February 3, 2025)
• FEMA, Flood Insurance Study, Essex County, Massachusetts, volume 4 (revised July 8, 2025)
• 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 Newbury, MA?

Yes. We’re licensed in Massachusetts and insure Newbury homes, including on Plum Island, from our Portsmouth, NH office by phone, email and online. Call (603) 431-4020.

Does Newbury flood?

Yes, in many areas. The regional hazard mitigation plan says 48% of Newbury lies in the 100- or 500-year floodplain, the highest share in the Merrimack Valley region, and it lists Plum Island, the Plum Island Turnpike, Pine Island Road, Newman Road and Middle Road among chronic flooding locations. 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.