re: NOLA flood insurance premiums with & without elevation certificates

Every square foot of property is in a flood zone. Think of it as the good, the bad and ugly zones. Zones B,C or X are the good zones. Zone A--, is the bad and Zone V is the ugly and is only in coastal areas like Grand Isle. There are others but very little property falls in them.

Your flood insurance rates will depend on several factors such as what zone you fall in, when your house was built, the elevation of the house and how much coverage you want. Zones B, C or X all have a standard rate, no matter the elevation of the house. Zones A--, and V have a minimum elevation requirement and your rate will be based upon how high your structure is in relation to the requirement. If your requirement is a 10’ and you are at an 11’ you will get a +1 rating, a 12' will give you a +2 rating. If you are at a 9’ you will get a -1 rating because you are 1’ too low, an 8' will give you a -2 rating. An elevation certificate provides this information so the insurance company can give you a quote.

Houses with equal value on the same street can be in different zones and at different elevations, so their rates can be very different. The method your house was constructed "slab on grade or pillars" and add to insurance cost. As someone mentioned the flood maps are revised every 5-20 years so the zones lines can change.

In the past structures built in the A-- and V Zones prior to the mid 1970’s "prefirm" have been grandfathered in and paid a relative low rate no matter their elevation. These grandfathered houses are where much of the claims are being filed, so the government has decided they must now pay their fare share. With no elevation certificate you get a very high premium quote, hopefully an elevation certificate will help lower your premium.

It's my understanding Elevation Certificates are good forever, even if the zone or height requirement changes, as long as the premium has been paid.

If you have a mortgage and are in a B,C or X zone, flood insurance is optional. If you are in a zone A-- or V it is required. If you don't have a mortgage then no matter the flood zone, insurance is optional.

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Real estate professional should walk you through this, but Caveat Emptor I guess, sucks.(would poorly rate the RE agent if it were me)

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I agree... Problem is not all of them are worth a shite and don't care about anything other than the closing.

I deal with them all the time and most don't have one fricking clue about the home other than it has updated bathrooms and the neighborhood is great. There are a select few and I mean select few that actually know what's going on.

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If you don't have a mortgage then no matter the flood zone, insurance is optiona

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somewhat

most insurance companies in the state require you to carry flood insurance as well in order to be written through them if you are in a required flood zone

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t's my understanding Elevation Certificates are good forever

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not necessarily true

I am an insurance agent in the mid city area, I wouldn't stress on the price until you see it with the flood elevation. If the house is +1 or +2 over the base flood that premium will go way down.

New maps coming out end of June and most of Orleans is getting much better.

I'm in lakeview on a slab and pay $1,600 a year for 250k building / 100k contents. When the new maps come out that will go down to under $700 a year.

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Real estate professional should walk you through this

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real estates professionals don't give a frick about their clients flood premiums.

Damn $3k a year, what flood zone are you in? I thouight much of mid-city was X. X is usually less than $1000 a year.

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Not being a dick, but that's something you should look at prior to buying a home.


Well, we haven't bought it just yet

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typically the market will price that into the valuation.

similar to condos and HOAs. So it's not a deal breaker, just compare apples to apples

Also, and this has not been mentioned yet, you could have gotten an "excess" flood quote through a private carrier, which is why it would be so much.

Nfip caps at 250k, and rates are determined by the gov't.

I don't think an elev. certificate will do you any good in a zone X.

One of the many purposes of an EC is to compare the required elevation level vs. the actual elevation level so you can be charged the proper premium.

For a Zone X there isn't a required elevation level.

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on't think an elev. certificate will do you any good in a zone X.

One of the many purposes of an EC is to compare the required elevation level vs. the actual elevation level so you can be charged the proper premium.

For a Zone X there isn't a required elevation level.

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The purpose of the EC, to my knowledge, is to prove how far above or below the base flood elevation the property is. If the EC indicates that the property is an inch or 5 inches above the BFE, it would help with the premium.

Of course, I'm no expert, so I could be off here.