What are Flood Certificates?

Make sure that you're certain of your certificates.

Today we're going to talk about zone determination and elevation certificates, understand their difference, and how they could benefit you. "Hey, I got a elevation certificate" is one of the most frequent line we hear in the Flood Insurance Guru, but it's actually a zone determination.

So what are these flood certificates? How does it help you? Do you really need one? If you do get one, how does this impact your flood insurance rate?

What is a flood zone determination letter?

This letter is generally the result of findings through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Basically, we run your address through the NFIP's system and it shows us what your flood zone is.

Determining what zone you're building is in the current flood map helps determine the flood risks your property might face and also the estimated flood insurance policy rate you will have to face. It's important to check this basically every month to be sure since FEMA and NFIP updates their flood maps from time to time to check on the changes on your areas floodplain.

These Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) changes directly impact your flood insurance premiums, for example if you're being moved from Flood Zone A to Flood Zone AE, you can expect your premium to be more expensive compared to what you'll initially pay. This can be a six to eleven percent increase depending on how close your property is to the "blue zone" or the Special Flood Hazard Areas.

Sometimes, it gives us the base-flood elevation of your property, but more importantly if you're in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) or not. This can be very useful if you are currently unsure of your flood zone, so if you're in the high-risk flood zones or the SFHA, like Flood Zone AE or Flood Zone VE then you can start processing your elevation certificate for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and NFIP. 

What is an flood elevation certificate?

Elevation certificate is a document containing details of your structure's elevation compared to the base-flood elevation. Zone determination letter is generally for free and we provide it to homeowners, customers, and realtors everyday. Elevation certificates however can cost you around $500 to $2000 and must be done by a licensed land surveyor or a professional engineer. A lot of times this certificate isn't really necessary. It simply depends where your home sits compared to the base-flood elevation — if there's a base-flood elevation to begin with.

The elevation certificate helps in providing both the homeowner and NFIP an idea of the property's offset compared to the base-flood elevation. Base-flood elevation is generally the level where your community floods start. If you're below it for 6 inches or more, then your wallet's going to have a hard time with flood insurance since the basic ruling is the lower you are compared to base-flood elevation zone, the higher flood risk your property's in.

This doesn't sound all bad. For example, if you're in high-risk flood zone, but you believe that your property doesn't have that high of a flood risk, then you can use an elevation certificate to show that you're basically above the base-flood elevation. This will sure to impact your property value and flood insurance policy positively and for the better. You can know more on these certificates through our podcast below:

Keep in mind, that generally an elevation certificate isn't required by private flood insurance companies and won't generally impact your rates compared to the NFIP. It's best to consult your flood insurance agent before immediately filing an elevation certificate. 

If you have any questions between these two, you can always reach out to us through our website, watch more of our YouTube videos, or call us by clicking the links below.

Remember, we have a background in flood mitigation to help you sustain your property for long term. Flood education and awareness gets you prepared for when crap happens.