Episode 126: The Myth of FEMA is FEMA

In episode 126 of the Flood Insurance Guru podcast we are discussing the myth of FEMA is FEMA.

For a very long time people have believed that FEMA is FEMA and there is nothing that they can do about their flood insurance rates.

However this simply is not true, as the property owner you control your FEMA flood insurance rate more than you think you do.

You see FEMA is giving you the rate based on the information that they have in front of them.

So if they don't have all the information then it could have a major impact on your wallet. What if you had paid high risk flood insurance rates for years when they should have been low risk rates. We see this happen to property owners everyday.

We want to discuss three areas where this rate can be controlled

1. Foundation type
2. Year built
3. Utilities

The three areas above have a lot of control over your FEMA flood insurance rate. Its not uncommon for the information here to be wrong 60-70% of the time. We hear from people everyday but I got an elevation certificate.

We work with FEMA to correct many elevation certificates that have the wrong information. You see surveyors are only responsible for the elevation numbers and not the rest of the information.

So if they put that you have a crawlspace instead of an elevated building then it could have a major impact on your flood insurance rates.

What if your insurance agent does not verify the year of the first flood insurance rate map in your community?

This could have a major impact on your flood insurance rates because pre-firm and post- firm structures have different guidelines.

For example if your home was built before the first flood map an elevation certificate would not be required in most situations. However if it was built after the first flood map then it could be required.

So if a claim occurs and it's discovered that the year built is wrong you could be required to get an elevation certificate and pay any difference in premium.

Another area that plays a big role is the location of your utilities. It's not uncommon for utilities to keep a property in a special flood hazard area.

Recently we had a customer that lowered their flood insurance rate by $1000 a year by simply raising their air conditioner.

As you can see FEMA isn't FEMA in many situations. It could be that the information on your policy is wrong. Did you know that you might be able to get flood insurance premiums back up to 5 years.

Imagine getting a check of $8000 back from FEMA, crazy right?

Well we just had that happen with a client that had the wrong information on their elevation certificate.

So if you have questions about how to check your policy, to get a better understanding of pre-firm and post-firm structures, or foundation types? Then make sure to visit our website. You can also check out our daily flood education videos on our YouTube channel or facebook page.