When it comes to flood insurance, there are few companies that can match the reputation and expertise of Lloyd's of London. But you might be asking who is this Lloyd's of London?

In this article, we want to share with you the three important things to know about Lloyd's of London and flood insurance.

3 Things You Need to Know About Flood Insurance from Lloyd's of London

1. NOT an Insurance Carrier

First and foremost, it is important to note that Lloyd's of London operates differently from traditional insurance companies. Rather than being a conventional insurer, it serves as a marketplace where multiple insurance providers collaborate to underwrite various risks.

3 Things You Need to Know About Flood Insurance from Lloyd's of London

This unique structure enables Lloyd's to offer coverage for risks that may be too complex or large for individual insurers to handle.

When it comes to flood insurance, Lloyd's of London consists of a dedicated team of experts who specialize in assessing flood risks and providing comprehensive coverage options. Their expertise ensures that property owners in flood-prone areas receive tailored flood insurance policies that cater to their specific needs.

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Whether you own a residential property or a commercial building or are involved in infrastructure projects, Lloyd's of London has the capability to provide you with comprehensive flood insurance coverage.

 

2. Knowing Flood-Related Risks

Lloyd's of London has a long history of providing coverage for flood-related risks. The company has been in operation for over three centuries and has developed extensive knowledge and expertise in assessing and managing flood risks.

3 Things You Need to Know About Flood Insurance from Lloyd's of London

This experience allows Lloyd's to offer tailored flood insurance policies that cater to the specific needs of property owners in flood-prone areas.

This can really be helpful when you start seeing some carriers who don't want to take the risk of your property just because it sits in a high-risk flood zone like Flood Zone A. Such ability can also help you avoid the more expensive costs of flood insurance.

3. Security and Stability

Lloyd's of London is known for its financial strength and stability. As a marketplace for insurance providers, Lloyd's operates under a unique system called the Lloyd's market chain.

3 Things You Need to Know About Flood Insurance from Lloyd's of London

This chain includes various entities such as syndicates, brokers, and underwriters, who all work together to ensure the financial stability and security of the policies issued through Lloyd's. This means that when you purchase a flood insurance policy from Lloyd's of London, you can easily feel safe and secure with the company's ability to pay out claims.

Yes, this is true even in the event of a large-scale flood event.

 

A Name You Can Trust

In conclusion, if you are in need of flood insurance, Lloyd's of London is a name you can trust. With its unique marketplace structure, extensive experience in managing flood risks, and financial strength, Lloyd's is well-equipped to provide comprehensive coverage for properties in flood-prone areas.

So, whether you are a homeowner, a business owner, or an investor, consider Lloyd's of London for your flood insurance needs and have peace of mind knowing that your property is protected against the risks of flooding.

If you want to know more about flood insurance and get answers to questions that are bugging you when it comes to flood risk and flood policies, click below to access our Flood Learning Center.

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Start simplifying flood insurance. Just follow these three simple steps:

  • Fill out this form — Get A Quote
  • Talk with our flood education specialist.
  • Get back to the important things in your life.

 

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When local residents of Covington GA think about flooding their home town normally doesn't come to mind. What normally comes to mind are areas like Jackson Lake or Lake Oconee where they may have a lake house.

However flooding issues in Covington Georgia during winter and spring months is starting to change how people look at flooding in Covington Georgia.

Before we can look at the flooding that has occurred we need to know the flood zones in the area.

Like most areas outside the coast Covington Georgia has three main flood zones.

  1. Flood zone X
  2. Flood zone A
  3. Flood zone AE

Flood zone X is the non mandatory flood zone where flood insurance is not required. The majority of Covington GA and Newton county fall within this area.

 

Flood zone A which is considered to be the special flood hazard area but normally doesn't have a base flood elevation includes areas like West Clark Street and Bob Williams Parkway.

 

Flood zone AE which is considered to be the special flood hazard area as well but has a base flood elevation includes areas like Main Street in Porterdale along the Yellow River. This also includes what is known as the Lofts.

So now that we know the three main flood zones for Covington and Newton county Georgia. Let's look at when flooding is likely to occur in the area.

You generally have two times a year where flooding becomes an issue but they normally occur for different reasons. In the winter months you normally have frontal systems that stall out for several days dropping a lot of rain over those days. Then in the spring you have flash flooding that occurs normally from a lot of rainfall from severe thunderstorms.

The flooding that is occurring right now in Covington Georgia is a direct result of a frontal system stalling out dropping several inches over the course of a few days.

However what is magnifying this problem is December was extremely wet keeping water tables and rivers like the Yellow River full.

yr photo

As a result this additional rainfall simply has nowhere to go. It's important to know that the National Flood Insurance Program no longer looks at flood zones when determining flood insurance rates.

An area that has seen this happen time and time again is the Riverside RV park along the Yellow River.

riverside

In December 2015 Covington Georgia saw significant flooding along highway 278 as a result of the same kind of system.

So when these systems come through Covington Georgia what can you do to protect yourself?

Well, the first step is knowing your flood zone. Know if you live in a special flood hazard area and the history of flooding in that area.

The next thing is to always carry flood insurance, but I thought that I could only get flood insurance if it was required by my bank.

This is one of the biggest myths about flood insurance. It's also one of the things that flood victims in Houston Texas, Nebraska City Nebraska, and Tulsa Oklahoma knew before losing everything to a flood in 2019.

So what are the flood insurance options in Covington Georgia?

It's important to understand that all parts of Newton County participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. So this means that NFIP and private flood insurance are available.

So who qualifies for what?

Since this is a participating community everyone qualifies for the National Flood Insurance Program.You really have 7 NFIP communities in the Covington area.

  1. Newton county
  2. City of Porterdale
  3. City of Mansfield
  4. City of Oxford
  5. City of Covington
  6. City of Newborn
  7. City of Social Circle
  8. City of Jersey

Areas like Riverside RV park that received repeated flooding may have this as their only option.

Generally one of the things that can disqualify you for private flood insurance in Covington Georgia are claims. Some carriers only care if there have been claims within the last 5 years and others will disqualify you if there has ever been a claim on the property.

Something else thats important to know is that you may only qualify for private flood insurance if you have a non FHA loan. FHA is the only loan type in Covington GA that requires all flood insurance to go through the National Flood Insurance Program.

So what about coverages?

There can be a big difference in coverages between the National Flood Insurance Program and private flood insurance. One difference is the National Flood Insurance Program maxes residential building coverage out at $250,000 while private flood can go into the millions.

It's important to know that since NFIP maxes residential coverage out at $250,000 that banks can not currently require more coverage than that per structure.

So what about protecting your belongings? Thats one of the biggest things we hear from flood victims everyday. They say what cost me so much money was replacing my belongings.

The National Flood Insurance Program maxes personal belongings coverage out at $100,000 while private flood insurance generally will offer up to $500,000 in most situations.

So we have discussed what flood insurance options are available in Covington Georgia? The real question everybody wants to know is how long do i have to wait.

It's not uncommon for people to wait until its flooding to try to obtain flood insurance. However most people are unaware of the different wait periods. There is really only one situation where there is no wait period for flood insurance and that is when it is for a loan closing.

Outside of this the National Flood Insurance Program has a standard 30 day wait period. Private flood insurance companies generally have a wait period that ranges from 5 to 15 days.

So it's important to understand that if you wait until its flooding in Covington Georgia or other areas of newton county to get flood insurance then it might be too late.

We mentioned what else you can do to prepare earlier. One thing is understanding your flood insurance policy. You may have loss avoidance built into your policy.

This helps reimburse up to a $1000 for preventative measures like putting sand bags around your property or moving belongings to higher ground.

So maybe you have more questions about other flood prone areas in Covington Georgia or Newton county? Maybe you want to see what flood insurance options are available to you? Then make sure to visit our website. You can also check out our daily flood education videos on our YouTube channel or Facebook page.

 

 

Home insurance companies are offering a new water endorsement for homes across the country.

In this article, we're going to talk about the dangers of using these water endorsements as a replacement for flood insurance. We're going to cover important things to know about these insurance products, and we're going to show you how you could lose your home if you have either of these insurance products.

Dangers of Using Water Endorsement For Your Flood Insurance

Water Endorsement Dangers

Now, it seems that this new water endorsement from your homeowner's insurance policy might be the best deal since it will help you avoid getting another policy just for flood damage. However, one of the biggest dangers of using this as a replacement for flood insurance is coverage.

Let's do a quick review first of what flood insurance offers for your protection against flood damage.

Flood Protection

First, let's define what flooding is. This is when at least 2 acres or 2 properties are inundated by water. This may be due to heavy rain, overflow of rivers or any body of water, or snowmelt. This is the same rule that flood insurance follows.

If you go through federal flood insurance and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), you will be able to get at most $250,000 for building coverage with a maximum of $100,000 for contents or personal property inside that home.

Dangers of Using Water Endorsement For Your Flood Insurance

On the other hand, this water endorsement will generally cover ten to fifteen percent (10% - 15%) of what a standard flood policy offers. This means that you're only going to get around $20,000 to $30,000 for flood coverage.

Although it follows the same rules of what is considered a flood, since different homes have different prices, this may present some benefits or potential disadvantages. Depending on your insurance provider, this amount may have the same limits as your sewer or drainage backup up to the dwelling limit.

Dangers of Using Water Endorsement For Your Flood Insurance

As much as this water endorsement may be beneficial for you, it may not be able to really address the coverage needs you may have when it comes to flooding. Generally, this amount may not be able to fully cover the replacement costs of your home.

It's also important to note that, unlike flood insurance services, water endorsement won't be able to cover all of your property that's been affected by flooding. This is especially true if you're living on a property in a high-risk flood area or near a body of water where flooding can happen drastically in a short period of time. 

This coverage may only cover your basement and the first floor however anything past that might not be part of your coverage.

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Availability

You might be thinking of saving more of your money by canceling your flood insurance and using water endorsement as your flood protection. We generally discourage this since it also presents a danger when it comes to your insurance coverage.

Water endorsement availability also depends on your insurer as there may be insurance providers that don't have this type of additional coverage.

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Generally, by doing this it may also mean that if your homeowner's insurance is nonrenewed, it will take your flood coverage with it. Once your homeowner's insurance is canceled or nonrenewed by your insurance company, you might not be able to get this water endorsement from a different insurance provider since it's basically embedded with the policy.

Dangers of Using Water Endorsement For Your Flood Insurance

This is a different case with flood insurance being a separate policy that won't really be impacted if such that situation happens.

This water coverage is not going to be easily acquired too. This is because your mortgage lender or bank will likely be the one to determine if the policy limits of this new water endorsement will be enough for your home. Simply put, if your bank will not accept this coverage, you might still need to get a separate flood insurance policy.

How Flood Insurance Helps

This new water endorsement may not really be able to give full coverage unlike a separate policy like flood insurance. So relying everything on your homeowner's policy may not be the best line of defense as a property owner for property damage due to floods.

Although it may be risky to rely your flood protection on water endorsements solely, it may also be of great help if you combine it with an existing flood insurance policy. This could mean that you can go past certain policy limits of flood insurance coverage by using water endorsement from your homeowner's insurance policy as excess flood insurance.

You may also find more comfort and security by knowing that you can get around $270,000 just for building coverage alone with the water endorsement and your standard flood policy coverages combined.

Dangers of Using Water Endorsement For Your Flood Insurance

At the end of the day, you shouldn't settle for less when it comes to the protection of your property and investment. Floods can happen anytime and most times, even just an inch of flood can cost thousands of dollars in property damage.

If you've got questions regarding this new endorsement with homeowners policies, how flood insurance premiums are determined, or anything related to flood insurance, click below to access our flood learning center.

Flood Insurance Guru - Flood Learning Center

Ready to solve your flood insurance problems? Here are the steps you can take:

  • Fill out this form — Get A Quote
  • Talk with our flood education specialist.
  • Get back to the important things in your life.

Flood insurance can be complicated especially when it comes to the coverage it offers. We're here to clear things out so you can make the most of your flood policy and get time back so you could focus on the best things in life.

In this article, we want to discuss full coverage when it comes to flood insurance. Does it exist? How does it work? What does it mean?

What is Full Coverage Flood Insurance?

Full Coverage

When it comes to flood insurance, it's best that we settle things straight. Technically, there is no such thing as full coverage. This phrase is only used by some insurance agents to describe the potential coverage that you will get for your property with a standard flood insurance policy.

It's important to remember that your homeowners' insurance policy generally does NOT have coverage for flood damage. Since a separate insurance policy is needed for flood damages, knowing your coverage can really help you avoid unnecessary headaches and flood loss.

What is Full Coverage in Flood Insurance?

So, you might be wondering what are your coverage options when it comes to flood insurance. In order to answer that, we'll have to break it down to your two options: federal flood insurance and private flood insurance.

NFIP Risk Rating 2.0

Your first option and you might already know about this is the federally-backed National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This is also sometimes known as a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood policy.

When it comes to NFIP, and even with their recent overhaul of the program with Risk Rating 2.0, you will be seeing some coverage limits there. Let's say that you need to get flood insurance for your home, so this falls under a residential flood policy.

What is Full Coverage in Flood Insurance?

Residential flood policies actually have coverage limits with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This limit indicates that you can only get a maximum of $250,000 for the building or structure of your home and only a maximum of $100,000 for personal property and contents of that insured home.

On the commercial side of things, the NFIP will offer only a maximum of $500,000 for building coverage and another $500,000 for business content within that insured building. This may make you ask, will this be enough?

What is Full Coverage in Flood Insurance?

Well, that really depends, but the way we see it now with increasing costs of materials, these limits might not be the comprehensive coverage you really need. Keep in mind as well that your flood insurance also needs to follow the 80% Rule.

This 80% Rule states that you should have a building coverage that is 80% of the total costs to replace or rebuild the property if you can't max out the coverage limit set.

Private Flood

On the other side of the coin, you have private flood. Being handled by private companies, insurers don't really have certain limitations on the coverage they can provide. Before we move forward, let's mention one of the biggest things you should know about private flood: flexibility of coverage.

Unlike the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), private flood insurance companies can provide additional living expenses and business loss of use with their flood policy. Although this may cause some form of an increase in premium rates, you might also be looking at an increase in protection against flood damages.

Private flood insurance can provide more than $250,000 and $100,000 in building and content coverage respectively for residential flood policies. The same can be said for commercial flood insurance policies with private flood, you can go more than $500,000 on your coverage.

This really helps a lot of property owners bounce back from flood events and if you have a somewhat expensive home or business, this coverage flexibility might be the best option for you.

5 Tips When Purchasing Flood Insurance

Additional Living Expenses

As mentioned before, you may also get additional living expenses coverage. You might be wondering what this could be for and that's no worry since this may be new to you too considering that the NFIP doesn't really offer it for policyholders.

Picture this, you just got flooded and a lot of repairs are bound to be made to your home. Basically, during this time, the house would be unlivable in order to give way to rebuilding or repairs.

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Additional Living Expenses coverage is what you can use to pay for the costs of rent or utilities. This can really be helpful relieve yourself of the stress of what just happened and the worry of finding a way to financially support yourself during this time.

What is Full Coverage in Flood Insurance?

This additional coverage can go up to $25,000 with private flood and this will only kick in with private flood insurance or when a presidential disaster declaration is announced for your community. 

Your Vote on Flood Insurance

Although there might not be full coverage with flood insurance, you still get all the necessary security you need. It's now left in your hands which one you would choose: the NFIP or private flood insurance.

If you want to know more about your flood risk, click below to see your flood risk and price.

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Learn more about flood insurance with us by visiting our Flood Learning Center where we try to answer all your questions when it comes to flooding and flood policies.

Flood Insurance Guru - Flood Learning Center

Ready to solve your flood insurance problems? Here are the steps you can take:

  • Fill out this form — Flood Insurance Guru | Get a Quote
  • Talk with our flood education specialist.
  • Get back to the important things in your life.

 

 

2020 has been a year that no one will ever forget. There are three things we want to look at in 2020 and how they could impact the future of coastal private flood insurance.

  1. Covid
  2. Social Injustice
  3. Hurricanes

 

                                                           Covid

When Covid hit in March of 2020 it caused many businesses to come to a crashing halt.

The hospitality industry has basically been non existent and you couldn't pay someone to get on a cruise ship. Airlines are barely surviving. As this happened businesses turned to their insurance companies for coverage.

However many were surprised to find out that most insurance policies don 't cover this type of disaster. Government put pressure on insurance companies to provide coverage. However its difficult to provide insurance coverage when a premium was not charged for a risk.

As these businesses started to close they started to cancel their policies. This started to impact insurance companies as businesses were no longer needing insurance for a closed business. While this was a minimum impact on the bottom line when you add the next two things it creates a major problem.

 

                                 Social Injustice

2020 has seen the rise of social injustice and unrest across many parts of the country. Portland Oregon has seen many businesses burned and even Atlanta Georgia saw businesses damaged after a man was killed in an altercation with police. 2020 was problem the first time in 50 years that you have seen moratoriums put in place by insurance companies for selling business insurance.

At one point Target had to close its Minnesota stores because of looting.

 

                                                Hurricane Season

Now onto the third maybe the biggest thing to impact insurance companies in 2020. The 2020 hurricane season was predicted to be busy but no one predicted it to be this busy. In fact NOAA has had to make several adjustments to their hurricane predictions for 2020.

As we write this blog at the end of October in 2020 we have had 27 named storms, 11 hurricanes have made landfall in the U.S. and 5 hurricanes have made landfall in Louisiana.

This ties the record for most landfalls in a year within one state. Florida set the same record in 2005.

Hurricane Sally, Marco, and Delta have all created major damage in the gulf states. In fact Delta and Sally made landfall only 15 miles a part.

Like most people in 2020 insurance companies are eating through their reserves fairly quickly and they are discovering that many of their risk models were off.

So what does this mean for coastal states like Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

In Mississippi we are already seeing some private carriers halt business completely and we have seen this in Louisiana for a few years. Texas has also had this issue since Harvey.

We could see this pattern start to work its way towards Florida and Alabama.

Does this mean flood insurance will not be available?

No

The National Flood Insurance Program is available for properties where communities participate. It just means that the private flood insurance options could be limited for a while.

This will be a crucial time for you to work with an insurance agency that can defend your risk?

What does this mean?

This means being able to show how a risk may have changed because of mitigation efforts even if it has flooded. We see customers rejected everyday because someone did not defend their property correctly.

If you have questions about what your flood insurance are in these areas then click here. You can also check out our

where we do daily flood education videos. You can also check out our

Remember we have an educational background in flood mitigation. This means we are here to help you understand your flood risks, flood insurance, and mitigating your property.

 

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It's the question that gets asked probably a hundred times a week. Insurance agents, property owners, and even banks want to know the answer.

Everyday we see FHA loans fall apart because of flood insurance. Many times flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program can be higher. Then you might have to pay the cost of an elevation certificate.

In 2019 FDIC made a major move in the industry when it started to allow private flood insurance.

People assumed this meant FHA would start accepting private flood insurance. However, because FHA insures loans they have different guidelines they do not accept private flood insurance. As of July 2022 FHA still only allows flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program, but hopefully, that will be changing soon.

On November 10, 2020 FHA made an announcement they were looking at accepting private flood insurance. They opened up a 60 day comment period for people to leave comments on this possible action.

So what happens next and what will be the impacts?

 

What's Next

After this 60-day comment period FHA will look at the comments and probably make a decision by the 2nd quarter of 2021. If they decide to approve it then they would probably delay it going into effect by 6 months. This is what FDIC in 2019.

So what could the impacts be?

 

The Impact

Well if you currently have an FHA loan then these could possibly cause a major decrease in your mortgage payment. You might see a 40% rate decrease in the private market.

 

However if this is passed don't go and try to jump to the private market right away.

FEMA has strict guidelines for cancellation. Unless you are refinancing your house you may not qualify until your policy is up for renewal.

 

In 2019 we saw a lot of people lose money because of FEMA cancellation rules. Many times private carriers require payment up front and charge minimum earned premiums.

This means you might be out 25% of the money you paid for a private policy because FEMA won't let you cancel.

 

We will continue to monitor this situation and continue to educate the public as this process moves forward. If you have questions about your flood insurance options then click here.

Want to learn more about flood insurance?

Check out our YouTube channel and Podcast.

Remember we have an educational background in flood mitigation which means we are here to help you understand flood risks, flood insurance and mitigating your property long term.

 

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Flood zone AE also referred to as the 100 year flood zone has the highest premiums other than coastal areas. These are generally because most of the structures have a negative base flood elevation. So what determines the premiums of these zones?

Well there are a few things that have a major impact on flood premiums in these zones. The age of the structure, the foundation type, flood loss history, and the elevation of the home.

Let's start with the age of the structure depending on when the house was built it will have a different rating model through FEMA. Its based on the first flood map for structure which generally occurred after 1978. If it was before the first flood map its called a PreFirm structure and if its after the first flood map its called a PostFirm structure. One of the big differences between these two types of structures is called grandfathering where you can keep the property in a preferred flood zone that no longer exists. This is allowed on PostFirm structures but not PreFirm structures.

The next thing that has a major impact on flood insurances rates in flood zone AE is the foundation type. Let's start with crawlspaces above grade compared to subgrade. Above grade is a crawlspace that sits above ground and subgrade is going to be crawlspace that sits partially below ground. The big difference here is subgrade generally will sit a certain level below the base flood elevation which increase the premium. While above grade sits above ground it could still be below the base flood elevation. The difference is things like flood vents can significantly lower the premiums with above grade crawlspaces.
The next type of foundation that will have a major impact on premiums are basements. As you can imagine basements can sit a good distance below the lowest adjacent grade creating a significant negative elevation. This can have a big difference on the rate so its very important to understand this when owning a house and purchasing a house. Also just because a basement is below grade does not mean that it is below the base flood elevation. Now that we have talked about foundations lets talk about how the elevation of the home in a flood zone Ae can impact the rate.The only real way to know this is to have a survey or elevation certificate completed. Now that we have discussed how the elevations of a home can have a major impact on flood insurance rates as you can see from the different foundation types.

Lets talk about positive elevations first and how they can have a big impact. The further your home is above the base flood elevation the better the rate is going to be. If all the elevations of your home are above the base flood elevation your home might even qualify for a letter of map amendment. This means that your property might be removed from the high risk flood zone and placed in a low risk flood zones causing a big improvement to property values. Now lets talk about the impact of negative elevations. As mentioned above basements can cause a home to have an extreme negative elevation. The higher the negative elevation a home has the higher probability of a flood occurring. This can create a double edged sword because the NFIP rates can be through the roof sometimes exceeding $10,000 a year for non coastal properties. However the other problem is the higher the negative elevation the less likely that a private insurance carrier will offer coverage on a property. So these are some things to think about when buying a home with a basement or building a home. we have discussed the impact foundation types can have on a structure lets talk about flood loss history.

Flood losses can have a major impact on a property. It could even stop a property from selling if severe enough. Generally when one flood loss occurs you would lose the preferred rating with the NFIP if you had one. Having a flood loss can also eliminate most of the private flood insurance options as most will not insure a property that has had a loss. However when the second loss and paid claim occur is when disaster can strike. This can turn a property into a severity loss property which has to follow certain mitigation guidelines in order to get insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program and private flood insurance is not available on these type of properties. This is why you should really review things closely before filing a flood insurance claim.

Have questions about flood insurance? Click the link below or visit The Flood Insurance Guru Find My Flood Risk & Flood Rate

 

pelham al home buyers beware

Hello, Chris Greene, with the Flood Insurance Guru here, where we have an educational background in emergency management with a specialization in hazard and flood mitigation. So we can help you understand your flood insurance options, how to minimize your flood risk, and possibly even how to get your flood zones changed. Today we're going to be talking about the major impact that the new flood insurance rates to the National Flood Insurance Program are going to have in areas like Pelham, Alabaster, and Helena Alabama.
Effective January 1st, 2019 the National Flood Insurance Program has put in some rate increases. Today we're going to talk about those rate increases when it comes to residential properties, investment properties, secondary properties, lake properties, second homes, commercial properties, properties that have been newly mapped to a new high-risk zone, and preferred policies.
So the first thing we're going to talk about is a primary residence. This is going to be your primary home. Let's say you have a policy now through the National Flood Insurance Program. It costs you $1,000 a year. You're looking at a 7.2% rate increase this year, effective January 1st, 2019, which is going to have an impact on you of about $72 a year, which isn't too bad. The big impact is going to be in areas like secondary residences, and commercial properties like we've mentioned. These areas are having a 24.2% rate increase. So let's say that you have a rental house that you're renting out, and it can't be considered your primary residence. If your flood premium is $2,000 a year then you are looking at almost a $500 rate increase per year, and that's just this year. So this could have a big impact on the profitability for a rental house.
Some other areas. Let's say you have a commercial business that has to have flood insurance and your flood premiums are $2,000 a year, you're looking at almost a $500 per year rate increase, for this year. The good thing is on other things like your preferred policies or zone X It's only having a 1%. So on a $1,000 premium, you're literally talking about a dollar and that's it, which is great news for these areas.
Remember, minimal risk areas or zone X generally have flooding 30% of the time. So just because you're in that low-risk zone doesn't mean you don't need flood insurance. It just means that FEMA has not determined it to be a high-risk area, and has not determined the base flood elevation. Other areas where you're going to see a rate increase are what's called newly mapped areas.
So let's say that a property is mapped to a flood zone AE, which is a hundred-year flood zone out from a flood zone X. Of course, during the first 12 months, you can take advantage of new mapping rules, which basically give you that preferred policy rate for the first 12 months. Well, you're going to see a 15% rate increase on those policies now. Now also remember that rate is only good for the first year, and that is there to help you adjust to what your flood premium's going to be. So it's very important that you look at these things.
It's also important that you understand the private flood insurance options and all your flood insurance options overall in Pelham, Alabaster, Helena, Alabama all these different areas where you're going to start seeing a lot of these flood rate changes. 

 

Remember we simplify flood insurance and understanding flood risks through education. If you want to learn more about flood education please visit our learning center by clicking below.

 

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Shelby County's own University of Montevallo (UM) is celebrating its 125th anniversary and this is really something worth noting. However, during this time a concern that doesn't look like affecting flood insurance surfaced; local restaurants and the general population of Shelby County are experiencing supply chain issues.

The Impacts of Supply Chain On Flood Claims in Shelby County, Alabama

Today, we want to talk about what this could mean for flood insurance, its coverages, and what to expect as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of UM.

Supply Chain Issues

Local restaurants in the southern parts of Birmingham are having a rough start to the year as supply chain issues resurface. This is causing a lot of problems not just for food supplies, but even necessary utensils and such. From containers to equipment, business owners are having trouble handling the potential economic impact of the issues with supplies.

This issue is just a few weeks after President Joe Biden implemented a presidential declaration to help homeowners across Jefferson County, Mobile County, and Shelby County when it comes to recovering from the October 2021 flooding.

The Impacts of Supply Chain On Flood Claims in Shelby County, Alabama

A local business owner, Naseem Ajlouny, shared with Shelby County Reporter how he's struggling with the supply chain issues. He quoted to have "spent around 30% of work now trying to source product". Moreover, there are also concerns with food supplies through crops such as the availability of corn on the cob and other protein products.

This is creating an increase in costs for menus across the county just to make ends meet. Worst case scenario, the item just has to be removed from the menu.

So what does this mean for flood insurance?

Supply Chain & Coverages

Now, when it comes to the concern of the supply chain, it's important to keep in mind that this doesn't just impact how businesses run. This also means that there may be unwanted impacts to flood insurance.

Let's all remind ourselves that Alabama, especially Shelby County, can be very prone to floods. There are a lot of flood hazards in the area which only contributes to the high-risk flood zones that the county is in when it comes to flood insurance rate maps (FIRM). So, this isn't really just a concern for business owners, but it can also impact homeowners.

You see, when it comes to flood insurance coverages, those replacement costs for recovering and rebuilding the building still need to come from sourcing out materials — the same goes for content coverages or the personal items included with the insured building.

If business owners are having trouble getting materials outside of flood insurance coverages and to keep their businesses afloat, what more when water starts overflowing from the floodplain?

This type of issue can cause a limited amount of coverage when it comes to additional living expenses from your flood insurance claim. This means that you won't really get an increase in premiums or payment, but you can expect to face higher costs when it comes to repairing the building.

The Impacts of Supply Chain On Flood Claims in Shelby County, Alabama

When flood insurance covers the repairs or recovery of an insured building, the market can still have an impact on the costs of materials like wood, bricks, metal, and things like that. Since the county is experiencing some challenges with importing these things, it's safe to expect that there will be higher costs on the materials.

This could also mean that if you have that $250,000 standard coverage for your $200,000 home, it will easily be maxed out when you file a flood claim when the reparation begins.

Even if we say that you will get 100% coverage on the repair of your insured building, there will be no room for flood mitigation measures since the building coverage or replacement cost is already maxed out.

The Impacts of Supply Chain On Flood Claims in Shelby County, Alabama

This can be very concerning especially since we're moving out of the winter season very soon and that also means that Alabama will face runoff from all directions. We've seen this happen before and it's not impossible to happen again. Despite the clearer skies in North Alabama, it's important to mention that Cullman County in the north-central areas of the state, faced 2 to 3 inches of rain in September before the October flooding.

Are you prepared to face possible flooding in the next few weeks?

If you have any questions on supply chains and flood insurance, how to review your insurance coverages, where to get flood insurance or anything at all, you can click our Flood Learning Center where we try to answer all your flood insurance questions.

Flood Insurance Guru | Service | Knowledge Base

You can also click below to call us and we can discuss your flood insurance needs.

The Flood Insurance Guru | 2054514294

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand your flood risks, flood insurance, and mitigating the value of your property long-term. 

Flood insurance coverage is something that all insurance agents and homeowners should know very well. Keep it close to the chest when it comes to fully understanding the extent of what you're writing on your policy.

Replacement Cost Versus Actual Cash Value

In today's episode, we want to tackle flood insurance coverages; specifically how replacement costs can be different from the actual cash value (ACV) and the dangers of choosing one thing from another.

What's the Difference?

When it comes to writing your flood insurance policy, you should be able to know which is the best option between replacement costs and ACV. Most insurance carriers provide homeowners with the ability to either opt into replacement costs or ACV.

But what is the difference between the two?

Replacement cost — from the phrase itself which is very self-explanatory — is the amount given to the insured in order to fully restore and/or rebuild the property after being damaged.

Let's give an example, if you choose to get replacement cost for your flood insurance for a home that's worth $240,000, then you will be able to get this exact amount from your insurance provider. In the NFIP, coverages actually max out at $250,000 building coverage and there are no amount limits in the private flood insurance market.

On the other hand, actual cash value (ACV) is a different story. This time around we won't be talking about the exact amount needed to fully restore your insured building, but its exact value in actual money.

This is calculated by using the replacement cost value of the property subtracted by depreciation. This means that the overall depreciation of the value of your insured building will be the sole basis of how much you'll be getting.

Replacement Cost Versus Actual Cash Value

This means that one way or the other, you won't be getting $240,000 on your insurance if you choose ACV. This is why choosing Actual Cash Value is dangerous for homeowners because you're getting less than what you really need.

How to Know Your Coverage

There are two ways to make sure that you won't get blindsided when your flood insurance claim pays out.

The first way to make sure that you don't get ACV in your insurance is by checking the policy. You want to make sure that you get to read your flood insurance policy very well before you proceed on purchasing it, and also make sure that you have replacement costs as your coverage option.

You can ask your insurance agent to help you with this and it's pretty easy for them to determine this. A great insurance agent will make sure that the policy you have is under replacement cost coverage.

Another thing you want to make sure of is that you're following the 80% rule. Both FEMA and private flood insurance have this type of rule. The rule states that you must ensure your property for at least 80% of its cost.

By following the 80% rule, you can have the assurance that you won't be getting a significantly lower amount of coverage when your policy starts to payout.

 

If you want to learn more about flood insurance coverages, how to manage your flood policy, or anything related to flood insurance, you can click below to access our Flood Learning Center where we answer your flood and insurance questions.

Flood Insurance Guru | Service | Knowledge Base

You can also click on this picture below to contact us and discuss your flood insurance concerns.

The Flood Insurance Guru | 2054514294

Remember, we have an educational background in flood mitigation which lets us help you understand your flood insurance, how it can be managed, flood risks, and mitigating your property to preserve its value long-term.

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