Flood insurance agent video: the coverage gap and 30-day wait

An independent agency can explain that homeowners policies skip flooding with a 30-second avatar clip. Script from Ready.gov, Sume costs at two tiers.

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How can an insurance agent explain flood coverage in a short video?

Lead with the one fact most homeowners get wrong and the one deadline that hurts them. Ready.gov says homeowner's insurance policies do not cover flooding, and that a flood policy typically takes up to 30 days to go into effect, so the time to buy is well before a disaster. A 30-second avatar clip that says exactly that, with captions, costs about $5.52 on Sume at the Standard tier. Make a second 15-second clip for the safety message and you have a pair for about $8.28.

The source is Ready.gov's floods page. It is public guidance, so the video repeats it and points to your agency for the quote; it does not describe any particular carrier's terms.

Which two scripts do the job?

One clip is for the coverage gap, the other for the moment of danger, so a post can serve both buying season and storm week.

Two clips from Ready.gov's floods page, read 2026-10-13
ClipLengthFacts to say
Coverage gap30 sHomeowner's policies do not cover flooding; a flood policy typically takes up to 30 days to take effect; buy well before a disaster; mention the National Flood Insurance Program as one source of coverage
Turn Around, Don't Drown15 sDo not walk, swim or drive through flood water; six inches of moving water can knock you down; one foot can sweep a vehicle away; never drive around barricades

How do you generate it on Sume?

Create the agency's presenter once with POST /v1/avatar-1.0/generate (63 credits, about $0.95, one time). Then send the script to POST /v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video. Sume takes scripts it estimates at 4 to 60 seconds, defaults to 9:16, and can burn captions after generation. Poll the job until completed. A 15-second clip is comfortably inside the window.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: flood-coverage-gap-001" \
  -d '{
    "avatar_handle": "agency_host",
    "aspect_ratio": "9:16",
    "quality": "standard",
    "script": "Homeowners policies typically do not cover flooding. A flood policy can take up to thirty days to go into effect, so the time to buy is well before the storm. Call our office and we will look at your options.",
    "captions": { "enabled": true, "style": "slam", "language": "en" }
  }'

What does the pair cost at each tier?

Avatar video is metered per second: Standard is 12.14 credits per second, Plus 16.16 and Max 36.27 for a video with no product. Dollars below convert at about 66 credits to the dollar, the ratio implied by the rate card's Timeline line. Video needs a paid plan, and Pro is $40 a month.

Two clips, 45 seconds in total, read 2026-10-13
Tier30 s clip15 s clipPair
Standardabout $5.52about $2.76about $8.28
Plus (default)about $7.35about $3.67about $11.02
Maxabout $16.49about $8.24about $24.73

What should the agency review before posting?

Insurance advertising is regulated by state and carrier rules, so have your compliance contact read the script, add your license line and disclose that the presenter is synthetic. Keep claims to what Ready.gov states; do not promise a premium, a rate or a coverage limit in the clip. Because a waiting period matters, say it as Ready.gov does: typically up to 30 days. Type your office number in the post, not in the avatar's script, and if you want viewers to check their risk, name the FEMA Flood Map Service Center that Ready.gov points to, and keep the call to action to one step.

Sources

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