Biggert-Waters premium increases threaten Louisiana’s working coast, insurance commissioner says ~ Lauren McGaughy
What can I add when the post title says it all? Absolutely nothing.
Alternative New Media for the Gulf South
Biggert-Waters premium increases threaten Louisiana’s working coast, insurance commissioner says ~ Lauren McGaughy
What can I add when the post title says it all? Absolutely nothing.
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I guess you saw that Mike Chaney’s secret plan is to sue the federal government to stop NFIP from raising premiums.
If they are convinced that the NFIP rates are too high, why don’t they invite their insurance friends to sell private flood coverage or set up a state flood pool and reinsure the risk with their friends in Bermuda? It works so well for Louisiana Citizens and the Mississippi wind pool. Then they would not have to depend on the mean old federal government.
Here is a few tips for any homeowner getting a big rate increase. Do not assume that your insurance agent has looked at the options and figured out the best deal for you. He/she probably just assumed the same coverage under the new risk based premium. You can reduce the premium by increasing your deductible up to $5,000. If you do that, please remember that you did it and don’t get mad when you flood and have to pay a $5,000 deductible.
Also, if you were not in the flood zone in the old maps and are now in an A or V zone you probably need to run the numbers. You can no longer get the cheap Preferred Risk Policy if you are inside the 100-year flood hazard area. The agent may just give you a Standard Flood Policy at the risk-based rate. You need to make sure they have your elevation correct. If you are a little ways inland in an A zone, you might still be a foot or two above the base flood elevation and your agent might just have said you were at the BFE. You will get a discount if you have an elevation certificate showing you are above the BFE.
If you were mapped into a V zone, it is worth the effort to go to the city/county and look at the map, talk to the flood plain manager, and consider appealing to move the line on the map. The V zone supposedly has 3-foot waves or higher with the 100-year flood. The rates and the building requirements are much higher on the V side of the line than on the A side. If you go to the maps, you may find out that some of your neighbors have already tried to move the line. You may consider joining together to pay an engineer to compile and certify supporting documentation to show that the 100-year flood would not produce 3 foot waves on your properties. FEMA’s wave formula is one of those things that is not nearly s scientific as they claim it to be. In Bay St. Louis, for example, the new maps have the 100-year or 1 percent flood around 18 feet and then they add waves on top of that. For storm surge waves, they just assume that the wave height is half again the distance from the ground to the 18 feet level. For example, if the ground is 12 feet above sea level, there is 6 feet of water plus 3 foot waves, so the BFE would be 21 feet. If the ground is 10 feet, the water is 8 feet plus 4 foot waves, so 22 feet BFE. If you can successfully move the 3 foot line on the map from behind your house to in front of it, you can save a lot of money.