Heads up! If you’re a resident of Tampa Bay or surrounding FL city, you are at risk of seeing an increase in your flood insurance rates. Read on to learn how you may be affected.
WHAT
On April 1, homeowners will see flood insurance rates increase. The congressional act that revised federal insurance premiums goes into effect, slowly phasing out subsidized flood insurance for more than a million homeowners with houses in flood zones.
You can expect affordable rates to increase up to 25% each year until the premiums equal the full risk of settling down on property mapped as a flood zone. For some, this means paying an insurance rate that is higher than their mortgage. Yikes!
WHY
While there’s no question why more affordable rates were favored in the state of FL, it’s important to consider why this policy change is taking place. The National Flood Insurance Program is cited at $24 billion in debt because revenue from the discounted premiums could not cover payments on flood claims (particularly after two devastating hurricanes; Katrina & Sandy). As the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic ocean continue rise by a few millimeters each year, storm surge from hurricanes will only worsen with potential for even greater damage.
WHAT CAN I DO?
Will you the policy change affect your home? There are a few things you can do to seek help. Homeowners lower their insurance costs with upgrades to make their houses less vulnerable to flooding— such as stilts and bricks. Check out the Grandfather Rule. If your home was classified as low-risk under old maps, but is now high-risk, you may qualify for lower rates if you’re already covered by a policy. Under a Preferred Risk Policy (PRP), you may pay as little as $129 per year for flood insurance, and you may renew for two years after new maps are in place.
Interested in learning more? Click here to get informed!
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I didn’t know that Preferred Risk was still around. My dad used that company years ago because he was qualified for car insurance under their rules.
Aiee! Don’t talk to me about flood insurance! I am about six inches away from being in an X zone, meaning I wouldn’t have to be in the flood insurance program if only the people who built the house had raised the foundation by seven inches. Fortunately, my house was built pre-FIRM. Hopefully that will help. And BTW, much of the debt by the flood program is due to people not having flood insurance. I did a big study on this when I was in the newspaper business years ago. It’s shocking how we bail out people who live in flood zones and yet are not required to be insured. I sure hope they fix that!
Wow thats interesting
I guess flood insurance is a fact of life in Florida, but many people don’t know that non-coastal areas need it, too. I live in Tucson, Arizona, which is desert!! Yet, in Tucson, most damage from natural disasters comes from flooding! Our ground is so hard that runoff is inevitable during the rainy seasons (winter and summer). Thanks for the valuable information!
Even in the east, storm Sandy woke people up that it could happen anywhere. Good you are getting the word out.
Thanks for the update about how an individual is affected by an increase in the flood insurance rates.
Great heads up! My extended family all lost their homes to flooding in Katrina and it’s aftermath. Only about half of them had flood insurance. You can bet they all have it on the homes they’ve built since!
Ugh! Yet another reason why I am truly over homeownership. I’m ready to sell everything and live in a tent…an air conditioned one 🙂
Great reminder! Holly, you truly SERVE the needs of your community by providing timely info and updates. Tampa is lucky to have you!
Great reminder for those who live in the Tampa area. Thanks for posting Holly.
Yea, they are rezoning here in Tx too and I have a feeling ours will go up… a lot! Not looking forward to it. Glad you are putting it out there for folks… helps to have someone looking out for you!
I think it is wonderful that you keep people informed about the important things they need to know about.
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