BIG changes are coming to the National Flood Insurance Program and this will have a HUGE affect on Florida Real Estate and in particular along the coast. I recently attended a seminar on this new system intended for insurance agents and here are some of my “take aways”
There will no longer be a “Preferred Risk” policy. This is the $500/yr policy for those NOT required to have a policy by their lender. All policies will be individually rated for risk and the cost associated with that risk.
The Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM’s) will ONLY be used to determine IF your lender will require you to have a flood policy.
The whole notion of a Base Flood Elevation (BFE) is going away. This is crazy. Your policy risk and premium will no longer be determined based upon open and available information being the BFE is 9′ and my first floor is 10′ so I’m good. Or my first floor is 12′ so I’m great. Elevations will be considered for ALL properties. From October onward, “Standardized rating tables will no longer be used, rates will be calculated using an algorithm.” Just exactly what that algorithm is, no one will tell you. Seriously. What they say will affect the pricing of new policies includes:
