Flood Zone Determination

The Base Flood Elevation (BFE) represents the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 1% Annual Chance Floodplain (aka. 100-year flood). Generally speaking, the nearer the structure’s elevation is to the BFE the greater the risk, and for structure elevations below the BFE, the further the structure’s elevation is to the BFE, the more flood water would be expected to inundate the structure during a flood event causing greater damage, therefore higher insurance premiums.

Most lenders will contact a Flood Zone Determination company to obtain a Standard Flood Hazard Determination (SFHD) as part of their closing process and in most cases a property insurance agent will make the same request from the same or a different Flood Zone Determination company. With two or more SFHDs being produced for a single location, disagreements in results can arise. These discrepancies can delay closing or the placement of a flood insurance policy. 

Hi everyone.  We recently published a press release announcing the launch of our DirectFlood platform so everyone can have access to high-quality and affordable guaranteed flood zone determinations.  Here's the press release:

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Everybody loves getting something for free.  But in this case, we are only giving out free advice.  And trust me on this, you don’t want a free flood zone determination.

There are some websites out there that will tell you what your flood zone is on a free report which sounds like a great deal.  But then you realize the company behind the zone is not a professional flood zone determination company and there’s no guarantee that the flood zone is correct.  Ok, maybe but just because they aren't professionals for zone determinations and there’s no guarantee, is it really that bad?

Simply, a Flood Zone Determination states which flood zone applies to a property.  Or put another way, it is ‘determined’ that your property is in a specific flood zone.  The Determinator, which is the company providing the Flood Zone Determination, will use FEMA’s flood maps, the county’s parcel maps, aerial photography, and other maps to figure out which flood zone is applicable to the property.