Started By
Message

5.13.14 Update In OP: Flood Insurance Question Help

Posted on 5/7/14 at 2:39 pm
Posted by SLafourche07
Member since Feb 2008
9930 posts
Posted on 5/7/14 at 2:39 pm
Update: Insurance company called this morning and wanted to let me know about some great news! Effective May 1st all rates are going back to Pre-FIRM so my rate will go back to the subsidized rate when I renew in November.

I told the girl I had called earlier and asked about it with someone else. And then I asked about getting a refund for the difference of our increased rate for this past year. She didn't know anything about that and was amazed that I knew so much about it and she asked how I knew. So I let her know about the law that was recently passed and said she should probably look into that before she makes anymore calls. (She said I was the first person she called.)

Shouldn't insurance companies be more aware of legislation and how it will affect their customers?

------------------------------------------

I'm going to try to keep this condensed, and all help/opinions are welcome.

My wife and I bought our home in November 2012. We took out a loan for $140,000 and bought flood insurance for up to that amount because it was mandated by the loan company. We paid about $1200

When our policy renewed in November 2013 we had to get an elevation certificate. Our elevation is 2.9 feet and the Base Flood Elevation is 3.0 feet. The rate jumped to $3600.

This is all because of the Biggert-Waters Act and because we purchased our house after July 2012.

I called my flood insurance company today to ask if our premiums would be reduced due to the NFIP and was told that due to my house being below BFE that my rates would not be reduced.

This isn't a debate on if I was stupid to buy this house without looking into this first because honestly it's not really up or debate. Nor on how horrible it is to have subsidies on flood insurance or anything else.

I just want to know if anyone has any knowledge on if I really am not affected by the new law because of my BFE.



This post was edited on 5/13/14 at 9:48 am
Posted by Paul Allen
Montauk, NY
Member since Nov 2007
75276 posts
Posted on 5/7/14 at 2:56 pm to
The new law (Grimm-Watters) repealed most of BW. You should be retroactively refunded for the premium increase and elevation certificates are no longer applicable for BW triggers.
Posted by Shadowlink
The Shadows
Member since Apr 2014
1434 posts
Posted on 5/7/14 at 3:54 pm to
quote:

Our elevation is 2.9 feet and the Base Flood Elevation is 3.0 feet


If this is true. You would be at base flood. Flood insurance rounds to the nearest foot.

You are either getting rated as a -1 or somehow have been rated as pre-firm.
Posted by LSUregit
Member since Dec 2013
1620 posts
Posted on 5/7/14 at 9:43 pm to
I do not live in a flood zone but the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act passed with a resounding yes. Even if it didn't, I don't see how you are paying so much on that amount.
Posted by lsualum01
Member since Sep 2008
1755 posts
Posted on 5/7/14 at 10:35 pm to
I would find out if the person that surveyed the property and provided the flood certificate used historic landmarks or if they used a landmark obtained by gis or whatever it is called(satellite). I ran into this situation. The neighborhood I lived in was built in 2002-2004. The houses were built a foot above base flood elevation using landmarks in the neighborhood, which were derived from the historic landmarks.

After the house was built, the new FEMA flood maps put the house in AE flood zone, and the house was now at Base flood elevation. When I went to sell the house this past November, When the buyers got the flood elevation certificate, the surveyor used the gis elevation benchmark and it put me 1 foot below base flood elevation. Apparently the parish decided that the old landmarks were not good any longer and require the surveyors to only be able to use a handful of older landmarks and otherwise use the satellite elevations, which dropped my elevation a foot. So, the house went from being built in 2003 at 1 foot above base flood elevation to 1 foot below base flood elevation. Luckily, I was able to hire a surveyor who was familiar with the area who came back and shot the elevation using the neighborhood benchmarks, which put me back at base flood elevation or eels I probably would not have been able to sell my house. Good luck dealing with FEMA.
Posted by Paul Allen
Montauk, NY
Member since Nov 2007
75276 posts
Posted on 5/13/14 at 3:58 pm to
quote:

Shouldn't insurance companies be more aware of legislation and how it will affect their customers?


They are aware. Conveying the message to the insured is a whole different story.
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 1Next pagelast page
refresh

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookTwitterInstagram