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Should I cancel my flood insurance policy? Part 2: Facts and Data.

This is a follow-up on our last blog about the conversations we have with property owners wanting to cancel their flood insurance policy.  It’s a complex decision that affects the risk we accept and how we mitigate that risk.  If you like facts and data, here’s some information that might help make a decision that’s right for you.

 

Homeowner’s insurance does not cover losses from flood disasters.  This is the primary reason it’s a big deal.  You need a separate flood insurance policy to be protected from flood disasters.

 

Should I cancel my flood insurance policy? Part 1: Conversations with Property Owners.

Property owners cancel their flood insurance policies for a lot of reasons.  It can be an expensive policy to carry, so we understand.  At MassiveCert we are in the business of helping homeowners untangle the requirements and regulations to get the flood certification you need as easily as possible.  We are on your side.

Here are some of the conversations we’ve had with concerned property owners like yourself that are thinking about dropping their flood insurance policies.

The FEMA 100 year flood zone explained.

I use the term “100-year flood zone daily for elevation certificates, LOMA’s, and explaining flood maps.  But it doesn't mean what you might think.  It means there is a 1% chance you will see a flood like the one on the FEMA flood map each and every year.  Since 1% is also "1 out of 100", the term "100-year flood" was adopted because that's easier to talk about than rattling off a bunch of statistics.

 

FEMA sometimes shows a 500-year flood on their maps and that is technically the 0.2% annual chance flood.  Try saying "zero point two percent annual chance flood zone" two dozen times a day and you can see why we use the short version.

 

Where does the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) come from?

FEMA defines the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) as the computed elevation to which the flood is anticipated to rise during the base flood.  The base flood is also referred to as the 1-percent annual chance flood or 100-year flood.  Just in case those terms are new to you, the 1-percent annual chance flood means that, statistically, there's a 1% chance every year that there will be a flood that looks like the one on the FEMA maps.  But it could flood less, or more, or many times a year, or not at all.  The Base Flood Elevation is a baseline pulled together from historic weather data, local topography, and the best science available at the time.

FEMA is Changing the Elevation Certificate

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is considering several changes to the Elevation Certificate and Floodproofing Certificate.  The public comment period for those changes has closed, but the comments from the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM), and others, can be viewed in the Federal Register.

 

Stay Safe.

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