SNAP households whose groceries are destroyed in a household misfortune, such as a fire or a flood, can have that food replaced in benefits. The catch is a short clock: the loss has to be reported within 10 days.

The federal rule, 7 CFR 274.6, says states replace the amount of the loss to the household, up to a maximum of one month’s allotment. For example, a household with a $300 monthly benefit could get back at most $300, and less if the food lost was worth less. The cap is the household’s own monthly allotment, not a fixed national figure.

The rule covers food that was bought with SNAP benefits. A household that lost a refrigerator full of groceries in a storm should count the days from the date the food was destroyed, call or write the local SNAP office, and then follow up with the signed statement the program requires.

What changed this year: Social Security and Medicare change every year, and nobody sends you a memo. The Retirement Money Brief breaks down what changed and what to do. Bonus when you subscribe: our SNAP Recertification & EBT Checklist.

Get the Brief and the SNAP checklist →

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

What counts and what does not?

The regulation is built around a household misfortune, and it asks for a signed statement from a member of the household confirming the loss. It does not give a long list of causes. States fill in the details on their own pages and forms.

Wisconsin’s FoodShare program shows what that looks like. The state health department says replacement benefits are available for food lost to a misfortune or weather event such as flooding, a power outage or a fire. It advises completing the request within 10 days of the food loss, or within 10 days of notifying the agency. The federal regulation itself does not list power outages, so that example is the state’s reading.

The same state page says proof of what caused the loss might not be needed when a state of emergency has been declared. That is a state practice, so households elsewhere should ask their own agency what it accepts.

How does the 10-day clock work?

The federal rule sets two clocks. A household reports the loss within 10 days of the date the food is destroyed. The state then needs the signed statement, and the regulation says that no replacement is issued if the signed statement is not received within 10 days of the report.

Once the paperwork is in, benefits are due within 10 days of the report or within 2 working days of the signed statement, whichever comes later. Even with those extra days, getting the report and the signature done early leaves less room for trouble.

What does a state form look like?

Wisconsin offers a useful example of the paperwork. Its Form F-00330 says the request must be completed and submitted within 10 days of losing food, and the applicant certifies the answers under penalty of perjury. The form also says the person must be a current FoodShare member.

The same Wisconsin process also covers replacement of Summer EBT benefits, the summer food benefit for school-age children. Wisconsin’s page says a request can be made online through its ACCESS system, by mail or fax with the form, by phone or in person. The form lists one mailing address and fax number for Milwaukee County and another for the rest of the state, so the address depends on where the household lives. Other states use different forms and phone numbers, but the pieces are similar: a report, a signed statement and the 10-day limit.

Because the rule asks for a signed statement that attests to the loss, the practical goal is a short record made while the facts are fresh. A note of the date the food was lost, what happened and roughly what was in the refrigerator or freezer gives the household something to work from when the form arrives.

Photos help in a general way, though nothing in the federal rule requires them. The signed statement is what the regulation names, so that is the piece to treat as non-negotiable. Anyone unsure what the state wants should ask the SNAP office on the same day as the report.

Can the 10 days be waived?

The default is firm. Federal rules set the 10-day report and the signed statement, and a state can only loosen them through a waiver approved for a specific disaster.

Sometimes. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service says a state may request waiver flexibilities so that regular benefits can be replaced when food purchased with benefits was destroyed in a disaster.

One recent case came from Wisconsin. The agency’s disaster page says it waived the 10-day reporting requirement for food purchased with SNAP benefits after storms that began July 27, 2026, with the waiver in effect through August 17, 2026. That waiver has ended, so it does not help anyone with a loss today.

The lesson is that the 10-day limit is the default. Waivers come from FNS after a disaster, they have end dates, and a household should never count on one without hearing it from the state agency.

Food destroyed and the 10 days already ticking?

Ten days goes quickly when a household is dealing with a fire, a flood or a long outage. A report that comes in late, or a signed statement that never arrives, can leave the household with nothing for food that was already paid for.

This story is about one report, and SNAP asks households to keep track of several dates. The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer has 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar, so recertification and reporting dates sit in one place. Part 7 of the organizer covers reporting changes and EBT problems.

Get the SNAP reporting calendar and state pack for the 10-day reporting deadline →

More Financial Reading

• 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
• 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
• 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.