Rising Flood Insurance Rates Take Effect Amid Government Shutdown

Land-owners in low-lying flood zones were dealt a huge blow on. Oct. 1, as current law is letting National Flood Insurance rates rise as high as 25-percent a year over the next five years, unless the government moves on the law it passed last year. Despite the lapse of the new rates, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Reps, including members of Louisiana's delegation, has pledged to continue to fight for lower flood insurance rates.

Flood insurance for Louisiana homeowners (and many other areas in the Gulf states) is simply a fact of life. But as the increase of incident continues to rise, the costs associated with repairing and reimbursing for flood damage has gone up. So says the numbers compiled by the Government, and indirectly led to the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, passed last year.

"After 45 years, flood risks continue and the costs and consequences of flooding are increasing dramatically," says the FEMA fact sheet on the 2012 legislation. "[So] In 2012, Congress passed [Biggert-Waters Act] which calls on FEMA to make a number of changes to the way the NFIP is managed...Key provisions of the legislation will require the NFIP to raise rates to reflect true flood risk, make the program more financially stable, and change how FIRM updates impact policyholders."

 

These updates have come up often over the last year, as Louisiana and other federal legislators have fought to reign in those rates, mostly with success. But now the fight over flood insurance rates stalled right along with the budget bill that wrought the current government shutdown, meaning that many homeowners could see their rates continue to rise by as much as 25-percent per year, until the newly calculated risk is met.

Louisiana finds both Sen. Mary Landrieu and Sen. David Vitter looking to recalculate the risk, and more importantly, the out of pocket expense for homeowners of the region.

"Our message is very clear today: The government may be in the process of shutting down, but my colleagues and I have our eyes on finding a solution for the five-million Americans—and almost 500,000 Louisianians—who have flood insurance policies that are facing significant rate increases today," said Sen. Landrieu at a press conference held this week. "Our flood insurance program is not functioning the way it should and is putting a great number of people at risk."

Landrieu pointed out that this problem was manufactured by Congress—and partly by the FEMA elevated flood zones–and that is needs to be fixed by Congress.

"My colleagues and I are working very hard and across party lines to find a solution. Whatever solution we find and agree to, we want to make it retroactive to help homeowners who are facing rate increases today. They should not be punished because Congress has not fixed this problem."

Water, water everywhere, but no flood insurance

What’s wrong with us? We’ve lost thousands of dollars of household goods and priceless remembrances because of torrents of water in our streets, homes and basements — yet we still don’t have flood insurance.

Some 81% of Americans know that the standard homeowners’ insurance policy doesn’t cover flood damage, but barely one in 10 has a flood-insurance policy, according to Bankrate.com.

What’s more, flooding is the No. 1 natural hazard in the U.S., according to the National Flood Insurance Program, a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Flash floods alone are the top weather-related killer in the U.S.

“Flooding is very common, and people need to wake up to the fact that they may need flood insurance,” says Doug Whiteman, insurance analyst at Bankrate.com, which recently asked people what they knew about flood insurance.

It’s something to consider ahead of this year’s hurricane season, which is roughly June 1 through Nov. 1 and is forecast to be a tough one.

Meteorologists at the University of Colorado warn that the tropical Atlantic has warmed unusually over the past several months, and there’s an “above-average probability” that a major hurricane will make landfall. They’re looking for nine hurricanes this year, four of which are expected to be major, and 18 named storms. Remember that it’s not always the hurricane’s winds that wreak havoc, but the storm surges and flooding that come with them.

As entire neighborhoods throughout the Midwest grapple with heavy spring rains and flooding, just six months after Hurricane Sandy lambasted the East Coast from Florida to the New England states, we find that one in five homeowners still seems clueless about flood insurance. That’s true even after insurance agents reported a surge in new flood-insurance policies in New York and New Jersey post-Hurricane Sandy.

You must get a flood-insurance policy on top of your homeowners’ insurance. The basic homeowners’ policy underwrites your home’s structure, your personal belongings like furniture, clothes, electronics, and sports equipment, liability and additional living expenses if you cannot stay in your home because of damage from a fire, storm or any other insured disaster. All, of course, have limits — and one of them is if the home is flooded. In some high-risk areas, you won’t be able to get a mortgage without flood insurance.

There’s a good tool at Floodsmart.gov that will give you the risk level of your property and direct you to insurance brokers who can help you get coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program. The average flood-insurance policy will set you back about $600 a year, though costs vary widely.

Here’s what you should know about flood insurance:

• It covers physical damage to your property and possessions.

• You may need both building and contents coverage. Building insurance covers the home’s foundation and the equipment necessary to keep it running, like a furnace, water heater and circuit breaker. It will even underwrite carpeting, paneling and wallboard. Contents insurance covers items like a washer and dryer, a freezer and the food inside it.

• Flood insurance doesn’t cover moisture, mildew or mold that could have been avoided. Nor does it cover property outside the house, like the deck, sidewalks and hot tubs. Not all basements are covered either.

• The costs vary, depending on the design and age of the property, what the flood risk is and the amount of coverage.

• The coverage doesn’t start when your check is cleared. There’s typically a 30-day waiting period, which means if you’re looking to avoid this year’s hurricane season, now is the time to jump in.