Erie and Niagara County water damage: what the county line changes

Which county is Buffalo in?

The City of Buffalo is in Erie County, and Erie County is the base for most of this service area. The county is the one the city's records and the local offices use.

Erie County covers the City of Buffalo and the many towns and villages around it. The service area on this site takes in eight Buffalo ZIP areas and seventeen separate municipalities, sixteen of them in Erie County and North Tonawanda in Niagara County, all within about 26 kilometres of the city centre.

The county name matters when a question is asked of a local office. A homeowner should say the property is in Buffalo, Erie County, or in the named town, so the question reaches the office that covers it.

What is North Tonawanda's county?

North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, across the county line from Erie County and from the City of Buffalo. It is about 20.1 kilometres from the city centre by straight line.

The county line separates North Tonawanda from Erie County, and it decides which county and municipal records apply. A question about a North Tonawanda property should name Niagara County, not Erie County.

The distance is a straight-line measure from the city centre and a guide only. The county line is what counts for permits and records, and the crew names the county on its note.

Which towns and villages in Erie County are in the service area?

The service area takes in Depew, Orchard Park, Lancaster, Tonawanda, Elma, Lake View, Getzville, Grand Island, North Evans, Derby, Clarence, East Amherst, East Aurora, Hamburg, Eden and Bowmansville, each a separate municipality from the city.

Each of these places is a town, a village or a hamlet in Erie County, and each is a separate municipality from the City of Buffalo. Some sit within a larger town, such as Getzville in the Town of Amherst. The research places each one by distance from the city centre.

Because they are separate, the offices that keep the records and issue the permits are the local ones. The crew names the municipality on its note, and the owner should ask the local office before a repair begins.

Do permits differ between the two counties?

They can. The offices that issue permits follow the municipality and the county, and the sources checked for this guide did not establish the permit office for each local area in either county.

A permit question for a property in the city goes to the city. For a town or village in Erie County it goes to that municipality, and for North Tonawanda it goes to the local office in Niagara County. The owner should confirm the office before the repair begins.

The contractor who carries out the repair should be asked which permit applies and which office issues it. A written answer is the safest record, since it shows the owner asked the question and received a reply.

A question that is answered by the wrong office costs time, and the owner may have to start again. Before calling any office, confirm the municipality and the county from the address, and ask the contractor which office it has dealt with for similar work in the same place. That experience is useful, but the office that covers the property is the one that answers the question.

Who regulates insurance claims in both counties?

The New York State Department of Financial Services is the state regulator for insurers, and it covers both Erie and Niagara counties. The county line does not change the regulator.

A claim is decided by the insurer under the policy, whichever county the property is in. The department regulates insurers and can answer general questions about how claims are handled.

Keep the photographs, the readings, the crew's note and the invoices for any claim, in either county. Those records are what the insurer will ask for, and they are the owner's own evidence of the damage.

How do the flood and storm records apply across the county line?

The regional storm and flood records describe the area across the county line, and the same storms reach both counties. A property in Niagara County can carry the same snow load and thaw as a property in the city.

The National Weather Service Buffalo office records the storms that affect the region, including the November 2022 snowfall that brought 16.1 inches in one day to the city. Those storms reach properties across the county line too, though the sources do not describe the snow in each place.

The crew reads each building on its own terms, whichever county it is in. The record of the storm helps explain the risk, and the building's own readings show what happened inside it.

What does the crew write down for a property across the county line?

The crew names the county, the municipality, the address, the readings and the materials removed. That note is the record the owner takes to a local office, a contractor or an insurer.

The county and the municipality go at the top of the note, so the record is accurate for the place where the work was done. The readings are logged with their location, and the note lists the materials removed and the repairs that other trades still need to make.

Keep a copy of the note with the policy papers and the invoices. When a question about permits, records or a claim comes up, the note answers the first questions an office will ask.

What should you do before you call about a property in either county?

Have the address, the county, the municipality and a description of the water ready when you call. Those four facts let the crew plan the visit and name the right office in its note.

Check the address on your deed or your tax bill, which will show the municipality. If you are not sure which county a property is in, ask the crew on the call, and it will confirm the county from the address before the visit.

Call (833) 490-5225 at any hour. A crew is sent as soon as one is free, and no arrival time can be promised before the situation is known. A clear description of the water and the property helps the crew arrive prepared.

How do you keep a record that names the right county?

Keep a note that names the county, the municipality, the address and the date, and use the same wording whenever you write to an office or an insurer. A consistent record avoids confusion when the property sits near the county line.

The address on a deed or a tax bill shows the municipality, which is the first thing an office will check. Write the county and the municipality next to the address on every letter, form or email you send, so there is no doubt about where the property sits.

A crew's note carries the same details, and the owner should check them against the deed when the note arrives. If the county or the municipality is wrong on the note, ask the crew to correct it, since an error in the record can delay a permit or a claim.

What should a homeowner do after a claim or a permit answer comes back?

Read the answer, check it against the note and the policy, and keep it with the job papers. If the answer names a different county or office from the one you expected, ask the office to confirm the property's location before you act on it.

A written answer from an office or an insurer is part of the record. Keep it with the crew's note, the readings and the invoices, so that the whole sequence can be seen later. A short covering note listing what was received and when is useful as well.

If the answer does not match the note, do not assume either one is wrong. Ask the office to confirm the municipality and county for the address, and ask the crew to check its note against the deed. The matter is usually settled quickly once the address is confirmed from the official record.